“Adonai said to Sh’mu’el, ‘How much longer are you going to go on grieving for Sha’ul, now that I have rejected him as king over Isra’el? Fill your horn with oil, and set out; I will send you to Yishai the Beit-Lachmi, because I have chosen myself a king from among his sons.'”-1 Samuel 16:1
I find it tremendously exciting to see how an early prophecy is fulfilled to the tee in a later part of Scripture.
The opening verse of 1st Samuel Chapter 16 is a perfect example of this.
While Samuel still grieves Saul, God tells him to get over his pity party because He has already selected the next King.
Samuel was to go and anoint this yet-to-be-revealed person as NAGID.
In case you forgot, NAGID or נָגִיד is the Hebrew word for the “king in waiting”.
In this context, it does NOT mean “leader”, “prince” or “ruler” as most scholars and concordances will tell you.
So Samuel was told to go to the family of Jesse (Yishai) and it would be from that family that God would reveal His choice.
Right here, a key Messianic prophecy from the Book of Genesis is fulfilled right before our eyes!
Here are the prophetic verses:
“Judah, your brothers will praise you;
your hand will be on the neck of your enemies;
your father’s sons will bow down to you.
You are a lion’s cub, Judah;
you return from the prey, my son.
Like a lion he crouches and lies down,
like a lioness—who dares to rouse him?
The scepter will not depart from Judah,
nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet,
until he to whom it belongs shall come
and the obedience of the nations shall be his.
He will tether his donkey to a vine,
his colt to the choicest branch;
he will wash his garments in wine,
his robes in the blood of grapes.
His eyes will be darker than wine,
his teeth whiter than milk”
-Genesis 49:8-12
This prophecy comes from the deathbed blessing that Jacob pronounced over his sons while they were still in Egypt.
Of course, no one understood exactly what Jacob meant at the time or how what he said would ultimately manifest.
Only with the passage of time did what was hazy and unclear begin to take shape.
Jacob’s deathbed blessing predicts that in some way Judah is going to be elevated above his brothers.
In other words, in due time, all of the other eleven tribes would bow down to Judah as Israel’s ruling tribe.
Then, from that one tribe would arise ONE INDIVIDUAL who would reign over all of Israel.
And the lineage from that one person would stay in power forever.
Well, folks this ambiguous utterance of Jacob is fulfilled in verse one of 1st Samuel Chapter 16.
How so?
Because Samuel was told to go to the family of Jesse.
And who was Jesse the descendant of?
He was the grandson of Ruth and Boaz through their son Perez (Jesse’s father).
And who was Perez’s father?
It was Judah baby! Judah!
Jesse hailed from the tribe of Judah homies!
As did Boaz of course!
Ain’t that freaking awesome?!?!?!
Six centuries later, this obscure prophecy from the first book of the Bible is fulfilled in the person of David!!!
I dunno about you…
But I’ve got goosebumps doing sprints up and down my spinal cord!
Alrighty, normally I’d end my post right here but I’ve got an interesting takeaway I feel compelled to share.
So the part where God tells Samuel to stop grieving over Saul stood out for me.
God is telling Samuel to stop harping over the past because what’s done is done.
He should stop looking backward…and start looking FORWARD.
There’s an awesome lesson there, don’t you think?
Look, I’m not saying you shouldn’t grieve after you’ve faced a great loss whether it’s divorce, losing a loved one, or whatever.
I’m just saying there comes a time when the period for grieving is OVER…and then you’ve gotta pick yourself up and MOVE FORWARD!
Ya feel me?!
If anyone needs prayer in this area, lemme know.
I’ll be happy to pray for you.
See ya all next time as we dive into the spine-tingling, mind-blowing life of David.
CONNECTING THIS TEACHING TO THE NEW TESTAMENT
“Now Yeshua himself was about
thirty years old when he began his ministry.
He was the son, so it was thought, of Joseph,
…the son of Heli, the son of Matthat,
the son of Levi, the son of Melki,
the son of Jannai, the son of Joseph,
the son of Mattathias, the son of Amos,
the son of Nahum, the son of Esli,
the son of Naggai, the son of Maath,
the son of Mattathias, the son of Semein,
the son of Josek, the son of Joda,
the son of Joanan, the son of Rhesa,
the son of Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel,
the son of Neri, the son of Melki,
the son of Addi, the son of Cosam,
the son of Elmadam, the son of Er,
the son of Joshua, the son of Eliezer,
the son of Jorim, the son of Matthat,
the son of Levi, the son of Simeon,
the son of Judah, the son of Joseph,
the son of Jonam, the son of Eliakim,
the son of Melea, the son of Menna,
the son of Mattatha, the son of Nathan,
the son of David, the son of Jesse,
the son of Obed, the son of Boaz,
the son of Salmon, the son of Nahshon,
the son of Amminadab, the son of Ram,
the son of Hezron, the son of Perez,
the son of Judah, the son of Jacob,
the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham,
the son of Terah, the son of Nahor,
the son of Serug, the son of Reu,
the son of Peleg, the son of Eber,
the son of Shelah, the son of Cainan,
the son of Arphaxad, the son of Shem,
the son of Noah, the son of Lamech,
the son of Methuselah, the son of Enoch,
the son of Jared, the son of Mahalalel,
the son of Kenan, the son of Enosh,
the son of Seth, the son of Adam,
the son of God.”
-Luke 3:23-38
“This is the genealogy of Yeshua the Messiah
the son of David, the son of Abraham:
Abraham was the father of Isaac,
Isaac the father of Jacob,
Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers,
Judah the father of Perez and Zerah,
whose mother was Tamar,
Perez the father of Hezron,
Hezron the father of Ram,
Ram the father of Amminadab,
Amminadab the father of Nahshon,
Nahshon the father of Salmon,
Salmon the father of Boaz,
whose mother was Rahab,
Boaz the father of Obed,
whose mother was Ruth,
Obed the father of Jesse,
and Jesse the father of King David.”
-Matthew 1:1-6
P.S. By the way, the part where God tells Samuel to fill his horn with oil and go to Bethlehem, contrary to what some folks mistakenly assume, that horn was NOT a shofar. The word being used here is KEREN or קרן. It was a bottle-shaped container probably made from the horn of some animal. It did NOT double as a shofar to sound an alarm or something. The oil Samuel filled it up with was sacred olive oil and it was gonna be used to consecrate David as the next king of Israel. Alrighty, later!
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