The name Judah signifies praise. Here Moses represents Judah as the praying tribe - in this respect inheriting the spirit of its great father, Jacob. Prayer and praise usually wed; they make a happy pair in the habitation of the heart, and the offspring is royal nobleness.
I. TRUE PRAYER PLEADS FOR AN APPOINTED DESTINY. What God has designed and destined for us - this is a proper object of prayer. For although God has designed some good for us, our prayer is the last link in the succession of causes which brings us into actual possession. "For all these things," saith God, "I will be inquired of... to do it for them." Prayer has respect to the will of God. The purpose and oath of God have prepared the blessing. The hand of faith is stretched forth to take it.
II. TRUE PRAYER IS SUPPORTED BY OTHERS' INTERCESSIONS. The prayer of a good man on our behalf is an inestimable boon. Here Moses prayed that Judah's petition might be heard. Example is contagious. When good men see us praying, they will pray with us, and for us too. If only combustible material be at hand, the fiery flame will spread. It is always an inspiration to us, if we remember that while we pray, Christ our Elder Brother is praying for us above.
III. TRUE PRAYER IS ALWAYS SECONDED BY PERSONAL ENDEAVOR. "Let his hands be sufficient for him." What we can do to gain the blessing, God will not do for us. What we cannot do, God will, if we meekly ask him. Prayer without effort is hypocrisy. We are not sincere in our request. Labor without prayer is stark atheism. The boat of human progress must be rowed with two oars - prayer and effort. Unless both wings are in motion, the eagle cannot rise.
IV. TRUE PRAYER OBTAINS THE HELP OF GOD, It obtains help for every undertaking - husbandry, commerce, art, and war. Prayer always has prevailed - it always will. Prayer and painstaking can accomplish anything. Prayer secures for us the best help, the presence of God himself. "Be thou a Help to him." This is an Ally worth having - an Ally who, by a breath, secures success. If the Lord be our Helper, we can wisely speak the challenge," What can man do unto me?" God with me, God in me, inspiring every thought, and purpose, and desire and deed, - this makes a mean man royal indeed. Thus we may all obtain a place in the honored tribe of Judah, and be "kings unto God." - D.
And thus is the blessing of Judah.
The name "Judah" was given to Jacob's fourth son in memory of his mother's grateful utterance of praise to God when this child was vouchsafed to her. It is the Hebrew word meaning "praised," and had reference originally to Jehovah, upon whom Leah in her joy conferred that title, saying, "Now will I praise the Lord" (
Genesis 29:35). But, by a very natural change, the praise which this name implied came to be attributed to the individual who bore it; and Jacob's dying blessing embodies that new application of the idea: "Judah, thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise." The blessing of Jacob goes on to disclose the great reasons for Judah's exaltation in the esteem of men. He was to be the royal tribe in Israel; from him was to spring the Prince of Peace, the promised Messiah, "unto whom shall be the obedience of the peoples" (
Genesis 49:8, 10). A third part of his eldest brother Reuben's birthright was conferred upon him, — and this, not by his father's caprice, but by God's deliberate appointment; so that the refusal of his brethren to acknowledge Judah as their leader would have been nothing less than rebellion against Jehovah. The sons of Jacob, however, seem to have acknowledged this leadership very willingly from the first. Reuben, Simeon, and Levi yielded the place of honour to Judah without a murmur, so far as the sacred record suffers us to judge, Only one tribe submitted with ill-concealed impatience and reluctance to the divinely appointed leadership of Judah. This was Ephraim, which had come to represent Joseph, the favourite of Jacob and the inheritor of another third part of Reuben's forfeited birthright. The first settlement of Canaan after its conquest by Joshua shows us the secret rivalry between these two tribes, and also allows us to see how completely these two had cast all the others into the shade. For Judah and Joseph divided the whole conquered territory between themselves; so that the central mountain ridge of Palestine received a permanent name from the one tribe in its southern portion, and from the other tribe in its northern continuation. It was not until some few years had elapsed that the murmurs of seven other tribes, for which no landed possessions had been allotted, shamed Judah and Ephraim into a more equitable division of their spoils, and led to the well-known partition of Canaan into nine lots, instead of the original two (
Joshua 15;
Joshua 16;
Joshua 17;
Joshua 18:2-7). But about one hundred years later the old dual division reappeared in more pronounced and permanent form. The seceding kingdom of Israel was established through the union of eight tribes or fragments of tribes under Ephraim, who now for the second time ruled over the whole northern half of the Promised Land; whilst Judah retained dominion over the south, in which part of the country Benjamin, Simeon, and Dan had found settlements under the wing of their stronger brother. From that time forth the name of "Jew" (that is, "man of Judah") was given to every subject of the kingdom of David's house, whether he belonged to the tribe of Judah or not. The second clause of this blessing may seem at first sight a little obscure; but the traditional Jewish interpretation will probably commend itself to everyone who bears in mind that peculiar position of Judah among his brethren which has been already described. The royal tribe was also the "champion" tribe, bound to go before all the rest in the path of warfare and of danger. The third and fourth clauses of the blessing bring out, on the one hand, Judah's valiant and unselfish discharge of the honourable task assigned him; and, on the other hand, they contemplate the serious hindrances which would oppose his work. He would have many adversaries, not only from among the surrounding Gentile nations, but also from amongst his own brethren, some of whom would envy him, and set up a rival kingdom and championship to his. But if God would be his helper, these rivalries and oppositions would only serve to make his glorious destiny more manifest. The Lord would set His anointed One king upon His holy hill of Zion; there He should rule in the midst of His enemies. The opening words of Judah's blessing are, however, the most suggestive in regard to the actual history of the tribe and to the typical application of that history to our own circumstances. Judah's triumph and rest and help were to come from God in answer to the uplifting of Judah's voice. Distinct as was God's purpose to bless him and to make him a blessing, He would yet be inquired of for this: prayer and supplication on the part of His chosen people were to be the condition of their effectual blessing. The Apostle Paul has taught us that "in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving" our "requests" should "be made known unto God" (
Philippians 4:6). This oft-forgotten but Important truth is forcibly suggested in the wording of Judah's blessing: "Hear, Lord, the voice of Judah"; for, as already explained, that name was given by Leah in token of the debt of praise which was owing on Judah's account to God. The history of the reign of Jehoshaphat furnishes a notable commentary upon the point which is thus suggested. Moab, and Ammon, and Edom had become confederate against that prince; and in his fear "he set himself to seek the Lord; and all Judah gathered together to seek help from the Lord" (
2 Chronicles 20:1-4). The answer which was given to this cry for help required from the king and from the people no ordinary display of faith, and no easy sacrifice of praise. But Judah was strengthened to stand the test (
2 Chronicles 20:21-28). Perhaps this hint from the meaning of Judah's name may be the most needed and the most profitable teaching of the blessing of Judah for someone who now reads it. It is no unfrequent experience when a Christian's prayer fails to be answered from God, simply because it was conceived in a querulous, ungrateful, and complaining spirit. No element of praise mingled with its petitions. It was wholly occupied with requests for some. thing that seemed lacking; whilst God was expecting a thankful acknowledgment of countless mercies which His selfish servant had received in silence, or even with discontented depreciation. Let not the offerer of such defective prayers expect any share in the blessings which Moses invoked on Judah. The voice of rejoicing and of thanksgiving was in his tabernacles; therefore the right hand of the Lord did valiantly for him. For thus saith the Hope of Israel, the Lion of the tribe of Judah (
Psalm 50:23).
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People
Asher,
Benjamin,
Dan,
Gad,
Israelites,
Issachar,
Jacob,
Joseph,
Levi,
Manasseh,
Moses,
Naphtali,
Reuben,
Seir,
ZebulunPlaces
Bashan,
Massah,
Meribah,
Moab,
Mount Paran,
Seir,
SinaiTopics
Adversaries, Attackers, Blessing, Bring, Cause, Contend, Contended, Cry, Defends, Ear, Enemies, Foes, Hands, Judah, O, Oh, Oppressors, Regarding, Strive, Striven, Sufficient, VoiceOutline
1. The majesty of God6. The blessings of the twelve tribes26. The excellence of IsraelDictionary of Bible Themes
Deuteronomy 33:7 5196 voice
Deuteronomy 33:1-11
7266 tribes of Israel
Deuteronomy 33:1-29
8638 benedictions
Library
Israel the Beloved
'The beloved of the Lord shall dwell in safety by Him; and the Lord shall cover him all the day long, and he shall dwell between His shoulders.'--DEUT. xxxiii. 12. Benjamin was his father's favourite child, and the imagery of this promise is throughout drawn from the relations between such a child and its father. So far as the future history of the tribes is shadowed in these 'blessings' of this great ode, the reference of the text may be to the tribe of Benjamin, as specially distinguished by Saul …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy ScriptureShod for the Road
'Thy shoes shall be iron and brass; and as thy days, so shall thy strength be.' DEUT. xxxiii. 25. There is a general correspondence between those blessings wherewith Moses blessed the tribes of Israel before his death, and the circumstances and territory of each tribe in the promised land. The portion of Asher, in whose blessing the words of our text occurs, was partly the rocky northern coast and partly the fertile lands stretching to the base of the Lebanon. In the inland part of their territory …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture
God and his Saints
'He loved the people; all His saints are in Thy hand: and they sat down at Thy feet; every one shall receive of Thy words.'--DEUT. xxxiii. 3. The great ode of which these words are a part is called 'the blessing wherewith Moses blessed the children of Israel before his death.' It is mainly an invocation of blessing from Heaven on the various tribes, but it begins, as the national existence of Israel began, with the revelation of God on Sinai, and it lays that as the foundation of everything. It …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture
Shoes of Iron, and Strength Sufficient: a New Year's Promise
"And of Asher he said, Let Asher be blessed with children; let him be acceptable to his brethren, and let him dip his foot in oil. Thy shoes shall be iron and brass; and as thy days, so shall thy strength be."--Deuteronomy 33:24-25. I once heard an old minister say that he thought the blessing of Asher was peculiarly the blessing of ministers; and his eyes twinkled as he added, "At any rate, they are usually blessed with children, and it is a great blessing for them if they are acceptable to their …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 35: 1889
"As Thy Days, So Shall Thy Strength Be"
In addressing you this morning, I shall first have to notice the self-weakness which is implied in our text; secondly, I shall come to the great promise of the text; and then I shall try and draw one or two inferences from it, ere I conclude. I. First, the SELF-WEAKNESS HINTED AT IN THE TEXT. To keep to my figure, if this promise be like a star, you know there is no seeing the stars in the daytime when we stand here upon the upper land; we must go down a deep well, and then we shall be able to discover …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 4: 1858
2D Day. Needful Grace.
"He is Faithful that Promised." "As thy days, so shall thy strength be."--DEUT. xxxiii. 25. Needful Grace. God does not give grace till the hour of trial comes. But when it does come, the amount of grace, and the nature of the special grace required is vouchsafed. My soul, do not dwell with painful apprehension on the future. Do not anticipate coming sorrows; perplexing thyself with the grace needed for future emergencies; to-morrow will bring its promised grace along with to-morrow's trials. …
John Ross Macduff—The Faithful Promiser
Covenanting Predicted in Prophecy.
The fact of Covenanting, under the Old Testament dispensations, being approved of God, gives a proof that it was proper then, which is accompanied by the voice of prophecy, affording evidence that even in periods then future it should no less be proper. The argument for the service that is afforded by prophecy is peculiar, and, though corresponding with evidence from other sources, is independent. Because that God willed to make known truth through his servants the prophets, we should receive it …
John Cunningham—The Ordinance of Covenanting
Within what Tribe the Lake of Gennesaret Was.
By comparing the maps with the Talmudic writers, this question ariseth: for there is not one among them, as far as I know, which does not altogether define the sea of Gennesaret to be without the tribe of Naphthali; but the Talmudists do most plainly place it within. "The Rabbins deliver: The sea of Tiberias is in the portion of Naphtali; yea, it takes a full line for the nets on the south side of it: as it is said, 'Possess the sea and the south,' Deuteronomy 33:23." The Gloss is; "(Naphtali) had …
John Lightfoot—From the Talmud and Hebraica
1872 the Need of a Home Further West --Burning of the Marchmont Home --Home Restored by Canadian Gifts --Miss Macpherson and Miss Reavell Arrive in Canada
The need of a Home further West--Burning of the Marchmont Home--Home restored by Canadian gifts--Miss Macpherson and Miss Reavell arrive in Canada--First visit to Knowlton in the East--Belleville Home restored by Canadian friends--Help for the Galt Home--Miss Macpherson returns to England--Miss Reavell remains at Galt. In her first letter on returning to England Miss Macpherson writes:-- "BELOVED FELLOW-WORKERS,--Once more at home among the old familiar scenes in the East of London, the sadness …
Clara M. S. Lowe—God's Answers
Second Part
Aphrahat the Persian Sage. 1. Name of Author of Demonstrations long Unknown.--The author of the Demonstrations, eight of which appear (for the first time in an English version) in the present volume, has a singular literary history. By nationality a Persian, in an age when Zoroastrianism was the religion of Persia, he wrote in Syriac as a Christian theologian. His writings, now known to us as the works of Aphrahat, were remembered, cited, translated, and transcribed for at least two centuries …
Ephraim the Syrian—Hymns and Homilies of Ephraim the Syrian
With Israel's God who Can Compare?
…
John Newton—Olney Hymns
On Deut. xxxiii. Ii
On Deut. xxxiii. II Hippolytus, the expositor of the Targum, has said that Moses, when he had finished this prophecy, also pronounced a blessing upon all the children of Israel, by their several tribes, and prayed for them. Then God charged Moses, saying to him, Go up to Mount Nebo, which indeed is known by the name of the mount of the Hebrews, which is in the land of Moab over against Jericho. And He said to him: View the land of Chanaan, which I am to give to the children of Israel for an inheritance. …
Hippolytus—The Extant Works and Fragments of Hippolytus
The Best Things Work for Good to the Godly
WE shall consider, first, what things work for good to the godly; and here we shall show that both the best things and the worst things work for their good. We begin with the best things. 1. God's attributes work for good to the godly. (1). God's power works for good. It is a glorious power (Col. i. 11), and it is engaged for the good of the elect. God's power works for good, in supporting us in trouble. "Underneath are the everlasting arms" (Deut. xxxiii. 27). What upheld Daniel in the lion's den? …
Thomas Watson—A Divine Cordial
Subterraneous Places. Mines. Caves.
Thus having taken some notice of the superficies of the land, let us a little search into its bowels. You may divide the subterraneous country into three parts: the metal mines, the caves, and the places of burial. This land was eminently noted for metal mines, so that "its stones," in very many places, "were iron, and out of its hills was digged brass," Deuteronomy 8:9. From these gain accrued to the Jews: but to the Christians, not seldom slavery and misery; being frequently condemned hither by …
John Lightfoot—From the Talmud and Hebraica
Wesley's Hymns Reconsidered
Bernard Manning A paper read before the Cambridge University Methodist Society on February 9, 1939. SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE, sometime Scholar of Jesus College in the University of Cambridge, once wrote some ingenious verses {Metrical Feet: Lesson for a Boy.} to help his sons to remember the chief sorts of metre. If Coleridge had been a Methodist instead of a pilgrim from Anglicanism to Unitarianism and back again, he would have needed to do no such thing: he would have needed only to advise his boys …
Bernard L. Manning—The Hymns of Wesley and Watts: Five Papers
The Covenant of an Everlasting Priesthood
"That My covenant might be with Levi. My covenant was with him of life and peace; and I gave them to him for the fear wherewith he feared Me, and was afraid before My name. The law of truth was in his mouth, and iniquity was not found in his lips; he walked with Me in peace and equity, and did turn many away from iniquity."--MAL. ii. 4-6. ISRAEL was meant by God to be a nation of priests. In the first making of the Covenant this was distinctly stipulated. "If ye will obey My voice, and keep My covenant, …
Andrew Murray—The Two Covenants
An Exposition on the First Ten Chapters of Genesis, and Part of the Eleventh
An unfinished commentary on the Bible, found among the author's papers after his death, in his own handwriting; and published in 1691, by Charles Doe, in a folio volume of the works of John Bunyan. ADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR Being in company with an enlightened society of Protestant dissenters of the Baptist denomination, I observed to a doctor of divinity, who was advancing towards his seventieth year, that my time had been delightfully engaged with John Bunyan's commentary on Genesis. "What," …
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3
Manner of Covenanting.
Previous to an examination of the manner of engaging in the exercise of Covenanting, the consideration of God's procedure towards his people while performing the service seems to claim regard. Of the manner in which the great Supreme as God acts, as well as of Himself, our knowledge is limited. Yet though even of the effects on creatures of His doings we know little, we have reason to rejoice that, in His word He has informed us, and in His providence illustrated by that word, he has given us to …
John Cunningham—The Ordinance of Covenanting
Jesus Works his First Miracle at Cana in Galilee.
^D John II. 1-11. ^d 1 And the third day [From the calling of Philip (John i. 43). The days enumerated in John's first two chapters constitute a week, and may perhaps be intended as a contrast to the last week of Christ's ministry ( John xii. 1). It took two days to journey from the Jordan to Cana] there was a marriage [In Palestine the marriage ceremony usually began at twilight. The feast after the marriage was at the home of the bridegroom, and was sometimes prolonged for several days (Gen. xxix. …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel
Adam's Sin
Q-15: WHAT WAS THE SIN WHEREBY OUR FIRST PARENTS FELL FROM THE ESTATE WHEREIN THEY WERE CREATED? A: That sin was eating the forbidden fruit. 'She took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also to her husband.' Gen 3:3. Here is implied, 1. That our first parents fell from their estate of innocence. 2. The sin by which they fell, was eating the forbidden fruit. I. Our first parents fell from their glorious state of innocence. God made man upright, but they have sought out many inventions.' Eccl …
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity
Mount Zion.
"For ye are not come unto a mount that might be touched, and that burned with fire, and unto blackness, and darkness, and tempest, and the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words; which voice they that heard entreated that no word more should be spoken unto them: for they could not endure that which was enjoined, If even a beast touch the mountain, it shall be stoned; and so fearful was the appearance, that Moses said, I exceedingly fear and quake: but ye are come unto Mount Zion, and unto …
Thomas Charles Edwards—The Expositor's Bible: The Epistle to the Hebrews
Notes on the Third Century
Page 161. Line 1. He must be born again, &c. This is a compound citation from John iii. 3, and Mark x. 15, in the order named. Page 182. Line 17. For all things should work together, &c. See Romans viii. 28. Page 184. Lines 10-11. Being Satan is able, &c. 2 Corinthians xi. 14. Page 184. Last line. Like a sparrow, &c. Psalm cii. Page 187. Line 1. Mechanisms. This word is, in the original MS., mechanicismes.' Page 187. Line 7. Like the King's daughter, &c. Psalm xlv. 14. Page 188. Med. 39. The best …
Thomas Traherne—Centuries of Meditations
Fourth Sunday after Epiphany
Text: Romans 13, 8-10. 8 Owe no man anything, save to love one another: for he that loveth his neighbor hath fulfilled the law. 9 For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not covet, and if there be any other commandment, it is summed up in this word, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. 10 Love worketh no ill to his neighbor; love therefore is the fulfilment of the law. CHRISTIAN LOVE AND THE COMMAND TO LOVE. 1. This, like the two …
Martin Luther—Epistle Sermons, Vol. II
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