Genesis 49:10
1 Samuel 13:13—How could God have promised Saul a perpetual dynasty over Israel when that had already been prophesied of David?
1 Samuel 13:13—How could God have promised Saul a perpetual dynasty over Israel when that had already been prophesied of David?
Problem: After Saul profaned the sacrifice, Samuel rebuked him and told him that, had he not sinned, God would have established him on the throne of Israel forever. However, in Genesis 49:10 we find the promise that the throne would be given to the tribe of Judah forever. How could God promise Saul an eternal kingdom when this was already promised to Judah?
Solution: The statement of Samuel did not amount to a promise. Rather, Samuel is telling Saul what he had forfeited by his act of impiety. God knew from the beginning that Saul would show himself to be unworthy of sitting on the throne of Israel. However, as a free moral agent, Saul had to actually commit the acts of impiety which God had foreknown. The statement that God would have established Saul upon the throne was sincere and legitimate, although hypothetical. For God also knew that Saul would disqualify himself, so God prophesied that ultimately the throne would fall to the tribe of Judah, and David’s line would be established in Israel forever.
Genesis 49:10b—If Judah was to reign until the Messiah, why was Israel’s first king from the tribe of Benjamin?
Problem: Genesis 49:10 indicates that “the scepter shall not depart from Judah, Nor a lawgiver from between his feet, Until Shiloh comes.” But history records that the first king of Israel (Saul) was from “the tribe of Benjamin” (Acts 13:21; cf. 1 Sam. 9:1–2).
Solution: This problem is predicated on the assumption that “Shiloh” is a reference to the Messiah. Some scholars take it to refer to the city in Ephraim where the Tabernacle of Moses was erected. On this interpretation, Judah was to be the leader of the 12 tribes all during the wilderness, until they came into the Promised Land.
Even if “Shiloh” is a reference to the Messiah, there is no real problem here, since the Messiah came from the tribe of Judah (cf. Matt. 1:1–3, 16; Rev. 5:5). In God’s eyes David (from the tribe of Judah), not Saul, was His choice for the first king of Israel (cf. 1 Sam. 15–16). So, the tribe of Judah was always the ruling line from which the Messiah was to come.