“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.”
– Genesis 49:9–10
These two verses near the end of Genesis are filled with promises that will be fulfilled in the rest of the Bible, ultimately in Jesus. This is a promise in Genesis 49, hundreds of years before Jesus comes that one would come from the line of Judah who would be a lion. So it’s no surprise when you get to the end of the Bible. So this is the first book in the Bible and in the last book in the Bible you have Jesus described as the lion of Judah who rules and reigns, “And to him shall be the obedience of the people’s.” And that’s what you see.
Look at Revelation 5, you see the lion of the tribe of Judah and all the peoples. Every people, nation, tribe, tongue bowing around singing the praises of Jesus. So, when we read Genesis 49:9–10 our eyes are just lifted to where all of history is headed.
Genesis 49:9–10 Reminds Us to Pray For Missions
And know, we talk about this, pray about this, this is not just a moment where we kind of throw a mission’s prayer into, pray the word. The word compels us to pray on a mission. The word reminds us over and over and over again that God is making his glory known among all the people.
That’s the language in Genesis 49:10. This is not just an isolated text, there’s not just one kind of mission’s text here or there in the Bible. “To him shall be the obedience of the peoples.” God is promising that a King is going to come from the line of Judah and all people will bow down and worship him. So that’s why we pray just continually for people, groups around the world, nations, tribes who have yet to hear the gospel, who have yet to bow at the feet of King Jesus. And we pray that the gospel would spread to them and we think, “Okay, how can we give and how can we live and how can we work in our churches to get the gospel to them?”
This Verse Leads Us to Pray for the People in Butun
So we pray. Lord Jesus, we exalt you. You are the lion of Judah. You are the promised Messiah who came, who brought salvation from sin and conquered death. And reigns right now as Lord with all authority in heaven and on earth. And to you shall one day be the obedience of all the peoples.
So, God, I pray we pray right now for the Butung people in Buton. God may they come to know you as Lord. May Butung people hear the gospel, believe the gospel. Help disciples to be made among these people in Buton that they might walk in obedience to you. May churches be planted among the Butung people and God may your name, may the name of Jesus the lion of Judah be exalted in Buton, specifically among this people group. Fulfill your promise we pray. And use our lives to fulfill that promise. Use your church to bring about the fulfillment of that promise we pray, in Jesus’ name, Amen.
David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
