Filling in the Blanks

20 Being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he answered them, “The kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed, 21 nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.”

22 And he said to the disciples, “The days are coming when you will desire to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it. 23 And they will say to you, ‘Look, there!’ or ‘Look, here!’ Do not go out or follow them. 24 For as the lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other, so will the Son of Man be in his day. 25 But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation. 26 Just as it was in the days of Noah, so will it be in the days of the Son of Man. 27 They were eating and drinking and marrying and being given in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. 28 Likewise, just as it was in the days of Lot—they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building, 29 but on the day when Lot went out from Sodom, fire and sulfur rained from heaven and destroyed them all— 30 so will it be on the day when the Son of Man is revealed. 31 On that day, let the one who is on the housetop, with his goods in the house, not come down to take them away, and likewise let the one who is in the field not turn back. 32 Remember Lot’s wife. 33 Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will keep it. 34 I tell you, in that night there will be two in one bed. One will be taken and the other left. 35 There will be two women grinding together. One will be taken and the other left.” 37 And they said to him, “Where, Lord?” He said to them, “Where the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.” – Luke 17:20-37 ESV

This section contains a fascinating and somewhat confusing series of lessons on the kingdom of God. From the very beginning of His ministry, Jesus had declared the good news regarding the arrival of the long-awaited kingdom of God. 

Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” – Mark 1:14-15 ESV

Jesus was declaring that He was the Messiah or Savior the prophets had written about. He was the son of David who would ascend to the throne and re-establish the Davidic dynasty in keeping with the covenant God had made with David (2 Samuel 7:11-16). And this message struck a chord with the people of Israel because they had been longing for the arrival of the warrior-king who would be their emancipator, releasing them from their subjugation to the Romans. For centuries, the Israelites had been waiting for God to send the next David, a man whom He would use to redeem His people and restore their fortunes as a nation. So, everywhere Jesus went, His words concerning the kingdom were met with joyous expectation and hope.

And he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people. So his fame spread… – Matthew 4:23-24 ESV

But the longer Jesus’ ministry went on, some of the people began to have doubts about His message. While they were amazed by His miracles and blown away by the power of His words, they were disappointed that He had not done anything to establish His earthly kingdom. If He truly was the long-awaited Messiah, when was He going to turn His attention to the Romans and clean house? How were they supposed to believe He was who He claimed to be if He never did the things the Messiah was supposed to do? This led many to demand that Jesus perform a “sign from heaven” to validate His identity. Yes, He had healed many people, but there were others who did the same thing – even His own disciples. He had cast out demons, but that was nothing new. Even the Jews had their own exorcists who were known for doing the same thing.

In fact, on one occasion, Jesus cast out a demon from a man and the people immediately proclaimed, “Nothing like this has ever happened in Israel!” (Matthew 9:33 NLT). But the Pharisees rejected their enthusiastic endorsement of Jesus, saying, “He can cast out demons because he is empowered by the prince of demons” (Matthew 9:34 NLT). And to prove their point, these men “demanded that he show them a miraculous sign from heaven to prove his authority” (Luke 11:16 NLT). Their refusal to accept Jesus’ claim to be the Messiah led them to constantly demand that He provide them with some kind of heavenly sign as irrefutable proof.

One day some teachers of religious law and Pharisees came to Jesus and said, “Teacher, we want you to show us a miraculous sign to prove your authority.” – Matthew 12:38 NLT

So, it should come as no surprise that Luke records yet another confrontation between Jesus and this religious leader where they demand that He perform a sign. But this time, their request is hidden behind a question regarding the kingdom of God. They ask Jesus, “When will the Kingdom of God come?” (Luke 17:20 NLT). This question wreaks of sarcasm. In essence, they are ridiculing Jesus for having declared that the kingdom had come, but they could see no signs of its arrival. He was still nothing more than an itinerant Rabbi wandering around the countryside teaching, preaching, and performing the occasional miracle. He spent more time in Galilee than He did in Judea, where Jerusalem, the capital city of Israel was located. He had many followers, but no army. And while He had cast out a handful of demons, He had done nothing to get rid of the Roman centurions who occupied the land of Israel from north to south. If He was the Messiah, they wanted proof. When was He going to do something to usher in the kingdom He claimed to have brought?

But Jesus saw through their ploy and understand the real focus of their question. They wanted some kind of sign that Jesus was the warrior-king who was going to conquer the enemies of Israel and re-establish the Davidic dynasty in Jerusalem. And it seems unlikely that these men were expecting Jesus to fulfill their demand for a sign, because they believed Him to be a fraud. To them, He was little more than a charlatan and anything but the Savior of Israel. Yet, Jesus responded to their question.

“The Kingdom of God can’t be detected by visible signs. You won’t be able to say, ‘Here it is!’ or ‘It’s over there!’ For the Kingdom of God is already among you.” – Luke 17:20-21 NLT

Jesus knew what they wanted. They were demanding that He do something that would affirm His kingly role and prove that He had been ordained by God to be the next ruler over Israel. Like all the Jews, the Pharisees and scribes were expecting the Messiah to establish an earthly kingdom that mirrored the glory days of David and Solomon. And Jesus knew that they were looking for visible, tangible signs that would demonstrate He meant business. As far as they could see, there was absolutely no evidence that would suggest He was a king, by any stretch of the imagination. But Jesus informed them that the nature of the Kingdom of God was radically different than what they had been expecting. In fact, the kingdom was already in their midst. The King was standing right in front of them. But Jesus didn’t look like a king. He didn’t do kingly things. At least, not according to their understanding of the role.

But it is interesting to note what the psalmist wrote concerning David.

He [God] chose David his servant
    and took him from the sheepfolds;
from following the nursing ewes he brought him
    to shepherd Jacob his people,
    Israel his inheritance.
With upright heart he shepherded them
    and guided them with his skillful hand. – Psalm 78:70-72 ESV

The Jews were expecting another David, a warrior-king who would destroy the enemies of Israel. But God had spoken of David as the shepherd-king who cared for the people of Israel. Jesus had come to seek and to save that which was lost. His first advent to earth was intended to bring a different kind of victory over a completely different kind of enemy. Jesus had come to conquer sin, death, and the grave. His coming had inaugurated a different kind of kingdom that would not be of this world. What the Jews failed to understand was that the Messiah’s mission would come in two parts. There would be a first advent and, when the time was right, it would be followed by a second one.

And this is where Jesus turns His attention to His disciples, in an attempt to help them understand the full scope of the divine redemptive plan. Even they were beginning to have doubts about Jesus’ identity and role. They were just as anxious for Him to set up His earthly kingdom, and they were having a difficult time understanding the apparent delay in what they believed to be the primary point of His mission.

Jesus informs His disciples about future events that will need to take place before His earthly kingdom can be established. In the days ahead, He will die, resurrect, and return to His Father’s side in heaven. And after His departure, they will long for His return.

“The time is coming when you will long to see the day when the Son of Man returns, but you won’t see it.” – Luke 17:22 NLT

With the coming of the Holy Spirit in Acts 2, the church age began. The kingdom of God will exist in its partial form through the lives of all those who, through placing their faith in Christ, become citizens of that kingdom. They will live their lives on earth as sojourners and strangers. But one day, Christ will return for His bride, the church. He will gather up all those are citizens of the kingdom and take them to be with Him in heaven. That will usher in the days of Tribulation – a period of great suffering and persecution on earth when the enemy will focus all his wrath on the nation of Israel. During that time, many will come to faith in Christ and even suffer martyrdom at the hands of Satan’s earthly proxy, the Antichrist. But at the end of that seven-year period of time, Jesus will return. This will be His Second Coming when He appears as the warrior-king with the armies of heaven beside Him, and He will defeat all the enemies of God and judge all those who have rejected God and His Son.

At that time, there will be two groups of people on earth: Believers and non-believers. And Jesus indicates that the destruction will be severe. But those who have come to faith in Christ during the days of the Tribulation will be spared. That is what He means when He says, “I tell you, in that night there will be two in one bed. One will be taken and the other left. There will be two women grinding together. One will be taken and the other left” (Luke 17:34-35 ESV). People will be caught completely by surprise. They will be going about their lives, “eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building” (Luke 17:28 ESV), and then, suddenly, the King will return.

And it will be after this apocalyptic event that Jesus will set up His earthly kingdom and rule from the throne of David in Jerusalem for 1,000 years. The sign the Pharisees were demanding was one they really didn’t want to see. The kingdom for which the disciples longed would eventually come, but not during their lifetimes. God has a plan and He is working that plan to perfection. And the first phase of the plan required that His Son come to earth as the “Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29 NLT). It will be at His second advent that He comes as the Lion of Judah and conquers the enemies of God and re-establishes the rule and reign of God on earth.

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

The Message (MSG)Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson

He is Worthy.

1 Then I saw in the right hand of him who was seated on the throne a scroll written within and on the back, sealed with seven seals. 2 And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming with a loud voice, “Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals?” 3 And no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or to look into it, 4 and I began to weep loudly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or to look into it. 5 And one of the elders said to me, “Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.” – Revelation 5:1-5 ESV

John has somehow been transported by the Spirit of God into heaven, where he is being given an unprecedented glimpse into the very throne room of God. It is an incredible scene, one which John has difficulty putting into words. His descriptions can only allude to the grandeur and glory of all that he sees. It is a scene filled with brilliant light, vivid colors, incredible sights and sounds and the very presence of the trinity. Seated on the throne is God the Father, and standing before Him are the Spirit and the Son. Seated before him are the 24 elders and around the throne are the four beasts who constantly sing, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!” (Revelation 4:8 ESV). We can only imagine what this must have been like for John. His emotions must have run the gamut, from awestruck wonder to abject fear. He was actually seeing the God of the universe with his own eyes and living to tell about it. This is significant, because God had warned Moses, “you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live” (Exodus 33:20 ESV). And Paul had told Timothy, “He alone can never die, and he lives in light so brilliant that no human can approach him. No human eye has ever seen him, nor ever will. All honor and power to him forever! Amen” (1 Timothy 6:16 NLT). And yet, we know that there was at least one other occasion when 74 others had the unique opportunity of seeing God and living to tell about it. It is recorded in the book of Exodus.

9 Then Moses, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and the seventy elders of Israel climbed up the mountain. 10 There they saw the God of Israel. Under his feet there seemed to be a surface of brilliant blue lapis lazuli, as clear as the sky itself. 11 And though these nobles of Israel gazed upon God, he did not destroy them. In fact, they ate a covenant meal, eating and drinking in his presence! – Exodus 24:9-10 NLT

This privilege bestowed upon Moses and his companions was never before repeated. At least until John stepped into the throne room in heaven. And unlike Moses, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and the seventy elders of Israel, John wasn’t going to enjoy a mean with God. He was going to witness the unveiling of God’s future plans for the judgment of the world – the “the things that must soon take place” (Revelation 1:1 ESV). And as John took in that incredible scene before him, he noticed that God was holding in His right hand “a scroll written within and on the back, sealed with seven seals” (Revelation 5:1 ESV). This scene is reminiscent of one recorded in the book of Ezekiel. There we see the prophet Ezekiel miraculously transported into heaven where he finds himself standing before the very presence of God. And he describes seeing the very same thing John saw.

9 And when I looked, behold, a hand was stretched out to me, and behold, a scroll of a book was in it. 10 And he spread it before me. And it had writing on the front and on the back, and there were written on it words of lamentation and mourning and woe. – Ezekiel 2:9-10 ESV

This scroll will play a significant part in the rest of John’s book. As we will see, it contains the judgments that God is going to release upon the earth. And it may be the same scroll mentioned in the book of Daniel, that he was commanded to seal until the end of time (Daniel 12:4, 9). John has no idea what this scroll signifies, but he can’t help but notice that it is sealed with seven seals and that it has writing on both sides of its parchment. Both of these features would have been out of the ordinary. The number of the seals obviously stood out to John, and probably appeared to be a bit of over-the-top and unnecessary. But as we will see with everything John witnesses, they have significance and meaning. The seals must have been affixed in such a way that as each one was broken, the scroll was allowed to be partially unrolled, exposing only a portion of its content. The next seal would have to be broken before the next section of judgments could be revealed. There is a sequential nature to the content of the scroll.  And the fact that the scroll contained writing on both sides would have been another odd feature, probably signifying the sheer volume of judgments to come.

The next thing John saw was someone who he describes as a powerful angel, declaring, “Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals?” (Revelation 5:2 ESV). Here was God, holding in His hand a sealed scroll containing all that was to come in terms of His future plans for the world. And the angel’s question creates a tension, revealing that there is only one who is worthy to break the seals and expose the scroll’s contents. The individual who would take the scroll from the hand of God had already been predetermined. But John was not yet aware of who that individual might be. He simply records that “no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or to look into it” (Revelation 5:3 ESV). No one was worthy of the honor or met the prescribed criteria. And this sad state of affairs left John in tears, “because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or to look into it” (Revelation 5:4 ESV). The scroll remained in the right hand of the Father, and the contents of the scroll remained hidden. As far as John could tell, the divine plan of God was left unfulfilled because no one had the authority to bring about its fulfillment.

There is a tension in this scene. It is as if all motion has ceased. The Father sits on His throne, scroll in hand. The 24 elders remain seated in their 24 thrones. The four beasts have stopped their singing and praising. The powerful angel has called out, seeking for someone to take the scroll from God’s hand and begin the breaking of the seals. But no one steps forward. John watches, waits and weeps. But then, the silence is broken. One of the 24 elders steps up and comforts John, telling him:

“Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.” – Revelation 5:5 ESV

Remember, John is having a vision of heaven. He has been transported into God’s presence where he is being provided a glimpse into things that no man has been privileged to see. It is as if this scene has been going on since the beginning of time. God has been holding that scroll from before the foundation of the world. It has long contained His plans for the world and He has been waiting for the one who would be worthy to take it from His hand and begin the process of breaking its seals and revealing its content. And while John noticed that no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll, that was about to change. There was someone, and He is described to John as the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, and the one who has conquered. It is Jesus. These titles describe Jesus’ qualifications or credentials that make Him the only worthy candidate to open the scroll. He is the Lion of the tribe of Judah. This is a direct reference to the blessing Jacob gave to his son, Judah.

9 Judah is a lion's cub;
    from the prey, my son, you have gone up.
He stooped down; he crouched as a lion
    and as a lioness; who dares rouse him?
10 The scepter shall not depart from Judah,
    nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet,
until tribute comes to him;
    and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples. – Genesis 49:9-10 ESV

Jesus was descended from the tribe of Judah. He is the one who holds the scepter and the ruler’s staff in His hand. And Jesus is the Root of David, another indication that He was the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy concerning the coming Messiah.

1 There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse,
    and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.
2 And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him,
    the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
    the Spirit of counsel and might,
    the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. – Isaiah 11:1-2 ESV

Jesse was the father of King David, and Jesus was a descendant of David. He was the one worthy to be the King of Israel, the successor to the throne of David. These titles are meant to declare Jesus’ right to rule and reign. And to further assert Jesus’ impeccable qualifications, the elder declares that Jesus has conquered. He has been victorious. The Greek word used here is nikaō and it can actually be translated as “overcome.” That very same word was used repeatedly in chapters 2 and 3, where Jesus addressed the seven churches=

“To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.” – Revelation 2:7 ESV

“The one who conquers will not be hurt by the second death.” – Revelation 2:11 ESV

“To the one who conquers I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, with a new name written on the stone that no one knows except the one who receives it.” – Revelation 2:17 ESV

“The one who conquers and who keeps my works until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations…” – Revelation 2:26 ESV

“The one who conquers will be clothed thus in white garments, and I will never blot his name out of the book of life.” – Revelation 3:5 ESV

“The one who conquers, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God.” – Revelation 3:12 ESV

“The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne.” – Revelation 3:21 ESV

Jesus has conquered. He told His disciples, even before His death, that they could have peace because He had already overcome the world.

“I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” – John 16:33 ESV

He used that very same Greek word, nikaō. And Paul reminds us that, “we are more than conquerors through him who loved us” (Romans 8:37 ESV). He uses the Greek word, hypernikaō, which conveys the idea of being super-conquerors. Christ has defeated death and grave. Paul reminds us of this incredible fact in his letter to the Corinthian believers.

56 For sin is the sting that results in death, and the law gives sin its power. 57 But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ. – 1 Corinthians 15:56-57 ESV

Jesus is worthy. He is fully qualified to take the scroll from the hand of His Father and open its seals. And He is the only one worthy. Had Jesus not come to earth as a child, lived a sinless life, sacrificed Himself for the sins of man, and been raised back to life by the power of the Spirit of God, He would not have met the demanding requirements of God Almighty. But He was faithful. He was fully obedient. He conquered sin and death.

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

The Message (MSG)  Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson

In the Days to Come.

Then Jacob called his sons and said, “Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you what shall happen to you in days to come.

“Assemble and listen, O sons of Jacob,
    listen to Israel your father.

Reuben, you are my firstborn,
    my might, and the firstfruits of my strength,
    preeminent in dignity and preeminent in power.
Unstable as water, you shall not have preeminence,
    because you went up to your father's bed;
    then you defiled it—he went up to my couch!

Simeon and Levi are brothers;
    weapons of violence are their swords.
Let my soul come not into their council;
    O my glory, be not joined to their company.
For in their anger they killed men,
    and in their willfulness they hamstrung oxen.
Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce,
    and their wrath, for it is cruel!
I will divide them in Jacob
    and scatter them in Israel.

Judah, your brothers shall praise you;
    your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies;
    your father's sons shall bow down before you.
Judah is a lion's cub;
    from the prey, my son, you have gone up.
He stooped down; he crouched as a lion
    and as a lioness; who dares rouse him?
The scepter shall not depart from Judah,
    nor the ruler's staff from between his feet,
until tribute comes to him;
    and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples.
Binding his foal to the vine
    and his donkey's colt to the choice vine,
he has washed his garments in wine
    and his vesture in the blood of grapes.
His eyes are darker than wine,
    and his teeth whiter than milk.

Zebulun shall dwell at the shore of the sea;
    he shall become a haven for ships,
    and his border shall be at Sidon.

Issachar is a strong donkey,
    crouching between the sheepfolds.
He saw that a resting place was good,
    and that the land was pleasant,
so he bowed his shoulder to bear,
    and became a servant at forced labor.

Dan shall judge his people
    as one of the tribes of Israel.
Dan shall be a serpent in the way,
    a viper by the path,
that bites the horse's heels
    so that his rider falls backward.
I wait for your salvation, O Lord.

Raiders shall raid Gad,
    but he shall raid at their heels.

Asher's food shall be rich,
    and he shall yield royal delicacies.

Naphtali is a doe let loose
    that bears beautiful fawns.

Joseph is a fruitful bough,
    a fruitful bough by a spring;
    his branches run over the wall.
The archers bitterly attacked him,
    shot at him, and harassed him severely,
yet his bow remained unmoved;
    his arms were made agile
by the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob
    (from there is the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel),
by the God of your father who will help you,
    by the Almighty who will bless you
    with blessings of heaven above,
blessings of the deep that crouches beneath,
    blessings of the breasts and of the womb.
The blessings of your father
    are mighty beyond the blessings of my parents,
    up to the bounties of the everlasting hills.
May they be on the head of Joseph,
    and on the brow of him who was set apart from his brothers.

Benjamin is a ravenous wolf,
    in the morning devouring the prey
    and at evening dividing the spoil.” – Genesis 49:1-27 ESV

Jacob was nearing death and he wanted to pronounce a blessing on his 12 sons. This event probably brought back all kinds of memories for the aging patriarch as he recalled the blessing he had received from his own father, Isaac, many years before.

“From the dew of heaven
    and the richness of the earth,
may God always give you abundant harvests of grain
    and bountiful new wine.
May many nations become your servants,
    and may they bow down to you.
May you be the master over your brothers,
    and may your mother’s sons bow down to you.
All who curse you will be cursed,
    and all who bless you will be blessed.” – Genesis 27:28-29 NLT

He could not have helped but think about Joseph and how all the nations surrounding Egypt had come to him, bowing down before him and depending upon him for grain in order to survive the famine. He had seen his own sons bow down before Joseph, honoring him as their superior. And even though he and his family had been forced to flee to Egypt to escape the famine, they had been awarded the best land of Egypt, and had no shortage of grain and new wine.

So as Jacob prepared to bless his own sons, he was fully aware that much of what he was going to say would have far-reaching, future-focused ramifications. There would be a prophetic nature to his blessing, impacting future generations of his descendants. His 12 sons would each become 12 tribes – the 12 tribes of Israel. Some, as the blessings will illustrate, will play a more significant role than others. Some will be relegated to relative obscurity, for a variety of reasons. The tribe of Judah, from which the Messiah would come, would be elevated to a place of prominence, past his older siblings, Reuben and Simeon. Jacob’s blessing of Judah sounds eerily similar to what Isaac had said of Jacob himself: “your father’s sons shall bow down before you” (Genesis 49:8 ESV).

Then Jacob went on to say, “The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until he comes to whom it belongs; the nations will obey him” (Genesis 49:10 NLT). Both David and Solomon would be from the tribe of Judah and they represent the glory years of Israel’s political and military might. But Jacob’s words will be ultimately fulfilled in the Messiah, Jesus Christ, when He rules and reign over all the earth in His millennial kingdom.

Jacob’s words to his sons are predictive and prophetic in nature. While somewhat based on each son’s unique personality and characteristics, the blessings uttered by Jacob are God-ordained, providing a glimpse into the future of not only his sons, but their descendants. When Jacob said, “Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you what shall happen to you in days to come,” he was letting his sons know that his words would need to be viewed from a long-term perspective. Much of what Jacob says did not take place within his sons’ lifetimes. In fact, many of his words have yet to take place. His sons and their descendants would live in the land of Egypt for more than 400 years. Four generations would call Egypt home before they would find themselves redeemed from captivity by God and returned to the land of Canaan. Forty years of wandering in the wilderness would precede their entrance into the land of promise - all because of their own failure to believe God. Their eventual entrance into the land would be marked by disobedience and failure to follow through on God’s commands. And while they would eventually occupy the land and grow into a mighty nation under the leadership of David, they would eventually see their mighty nation split in two because of the moral and spiritual indiscretions of David’s son, Solomon. God would divide the kingdom into two nations: Israel and Judah. And in time, both nations would be conquered and destroyed by pagan nations, with their citizens taken into captivity – all because of their refusal to honor and obey God.

You can see in Jacob’s descriptions of his sons that they represent a range of personalities and character traits. His 12 sons represent the good, the bad and the ugly of Israel’s future. And yet, God will accomplish His divine will through them and in spite of them. His will will be done. Israel would become a great nation. That nationwould eventually be divided. Those two kingdoms would end up in captivity. But God would eventually restore them. He would send His Son to be born as one of them. They would reject Him as their Messiah. He would die at their hands, labeled as a blasphemer and treated like a common criminal. But God would raise Jesus from the dead and restore Him to His rightful place at side. And one day, God will send His Son back to finish what He began.

The book of Revelation records John’s vision of the end times, when Jesus, the Lion of Judah, will finalize God’s plan and usher in His own kingdom.

“Stop weeping! Look, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the heir to David’s throne, has won the victory. He is worthy to open the scroll and its seven seals.” – Revelation 5:5 NLT

Of the Lion of Judah, it will be sung:

“You are worthy to take the scroll and break its seals and open it. For you were slaughtered, and your blood has ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation. And you have caused them to become a Kingdom of priests for our God. And they will reign on the earth.” – Genesis 5:9-10 NLT

In the days to come. We are prone to live with a present-focused perspective. Even our concept of the future is restricted to our own lifetimes. We have a hard time seeing past the present and our own presence. And yet, God is future-focused. His plan is based on what is to come. What is and what has been both find their meaning in the what will be that God has prepared for His people. The best is yet to come.