The harmony of the divine attributes in the contrivance and accomplishment of man's redemption…

1. The Prophecy of dying Jacob. ¹The Sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a Lawgiver from between his feet, till Shiloh come. By the Sceptre and Lawgiver are meant divers Forms of Government: the first being the mark of Regal Power▪ the other title respects those whose Power succeeded that of their Kings, in the person of Zerubbabel and his Successors. Jacob prophetically declares two things; their establishment in Judah, and their continuance till the coming of Shiloh. This Oracle doth not precisely respect the person of Judah, for he never ascended the Throne, nor possest the Empire over his Brethren; nor solely his Posterity as a Tribe distinguished from the rest, although it had special advantages from that time:² For the Banner of Judah led the Camp in their march through the wilderness: That Tribe had the first possession of the land of Canaan; these were the beginnings of its future Glory. And from David to the Captivity, that Tribe possest the Kingdom; But the glory of his Sceptre was lost in the person of Zedekiah: Therefore the full meaning of the Prophecy regards the People of Israel, in the relation they had to the Tribe of Judah: For that Tribe alone returned entire from the Captivity with some relics of Levi and Benjamin, so that the Nation from that time was distinguished by the title of the Jews in relation to it; and the Right to dispose of the Sceptre was always in the Tribe of Judah: For the Levites that ruled after the Captivity received their Power from them. 'Till Shiloh come, that is, the Messiah, as the Chaldee Paraphrase, and the ancient Jewish Interpreters expound; So that ⟨p. 484⟩the intent of the Oracle is, that after the establishment of the Supreme Power in the Family of Judah, it should not pass into the hands of Strangers but as a certain Presage, and immediate Fore-runner of of the coming of Shiloh. And this was fully accomplished. For in the Captivity there was an interruption rather than extinction of their Government. Their Return was promised at the time they were carried Captives to Babylon. But at the coming of Christ, Judea was a Province of the Roman Empire, Herod an Edomite sate on the Throne; and as the Tribe of Judah in general, so the Family of David in particular was in such a low state, that Joseph and Mary that were descended from him, were constrained to lodge in a stable at Bethlehem.