This post needs to be read with the following: MESSIANIC PROPHECIES SERIES PT. 2.

As he lay in his bed dying, the patriarch Jacob prophesied over the fate of his twelve sons. In respect to Judah, Jacob proclaimed that the Ruler of the nations would come forth from his loins:

“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 whelp; from the prey, my son, you have gone up. He stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as a lioness; who dares rouse him up? The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until he comes to whom it belongs; and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples. Binding his foal to the vine and his ass’s colt to the choice vine, he washes his garments in wine and his vesture in the blood of grapes; his eyes shall be red with wine, and his teeth white with milk.” Genesis 49:8-12

Note how the following translation renders the verse in question:

“The scepter will not depart from Judah, Nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, Until Shiloh comes, And to him shall be the obedience of the peoples.” Genesis 49:10 NASB

Some view the expression Shiloh as one of the names of the coming King. As I am going to show, the rabbis took this to be a descriptive noun for the Messiah.

CORRESPONDING TEXTS

Subsequent prophets and canonical writings unpack Jacob’s prophecy concerning Judah, indicating that this Ruler will spring forth from the line of David:

“The sons of Reuben the first-born of Israel (for he was the first-born; but because he polluted his father’s couch, his birthright was given to the sons of Joseph the son of Israel, so that he is not enrolled in the genealogy according to the birthright; though Judah became strong among his brothers and a prince was from him, yet the birthright belonged to Joseph),” 1 Chronicles 5:1-2

“David assembled at Jerusalem all the officials of Israel, the officials of the tribes, the officers of the divisions that served the king, the commanders of thousands, the commanders of hundreds, the stewards of all the property and cattle of the king and his sons, together with the palace officials, the mighty men, and all the seasoned warriors. Then King David rose to his feet and said: ‘Hear me, my brethren and my people. I had it in my heart to build a house of rest for the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and for the footstool of our God; and I made preparations for building. But God said to me, “You may not build a house for my name, for you are a warrior and have shed blood.” Yet the Lord God of Israel chose me from all my father’s house to be king over Israel for ever; for he chose Judah as leader, and in the house of Judah my father’s house, and among my father’s sons he took pleasure in me to make me king over all Israel. And of all my sons (for the Lord has given me many sons) he has chosen Solomon my son to sit upon the throne of the kingdom of the Lord over Israel. He said to me, “It is Solomon your son who shall build my house and my courts, for I have chosen him to be my son, and I will be his father. I will establish his kingdom for ever if he continues resolute in keeping my commandments and my ordinances, as he is today.’” 1 Chronicles 28:1-7

God made an irrevocable covenant where he made David an unchangeable and immutable promise that his kingdom would never be destroyed, and that he would never fail to have a man from his loins who would sit on God’s throne on David’s behalf:

“Thou hast said, ‘I have made a covenant with my chosen one, I have sworn to David my servant: “I will establish your descendants for ever, and build your throne for all generations.”’ Selah… Of old thou didst speak in a vision to thy faithful one, and say: ‘I have set the crown upon one who is mighty, I have exalted one chosen from the people. I have found David, my servant; with my holy oil I have anointed him; so that my hand shall ever abide with him, my arm also shall strengthen him. The enemy shall not outwit him, the wicked shall not humble him. I will crush his foes before him and strike down those who hate him. My faithfulness and my steadfast love shall be with him, and in my name shall his horn be exalted. I will set his hand on the sea and his right hand on the rivers. He shall cry to me, “Thou art my Father, my God, and the Rock of my salvation.” And I will make him the first-born, the highest of the kings of the earth. My steadfast love I will keep for him for ever, and my covenant will stand firm for him. I will establish his line for ever and his throne as the days of the heavens. If his children forsake my law and do not walk according to my ordinances, if they violate my statutes and do not keep my commandments, then I will punish their transgression with the rod and their iniquity with scourges; but I will not remove from him my steadfast love, or be false to my faithfulness. I will not violate my covenant, or alter the word that went forth from my lips. Once for all I have sworn by my holiness; I will not lie to David. His line shall endure for ever, his throne as long as the sun before me. Like the moon it shall be established for ever; it shall stand firm while the skies endure.’ Selah” Psalm 89:3-4, 19-37

God further swore that this Davidic King would reign over all the nations, as they worship and serve him forever and ever:

“Give the king thy justice, O God, and thy righteousness to the royal son!… May he have dominion from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth! May his foes bow down before him, and his enemies lick the dust! May the kings of Tarshish and of the isles render him tribute, may the kings of Sheba and Seba bring gifts! May all kings fall down before him, all nations serve him!… May his name endure for ever, his fame continue as long as the sun! May men bless themselves by him, all nations call him blessed!” Psalm 72:1, 8-11, 17 

“Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Lo, your king comes to you; triumphant and victorious is he, humble and riding on an ass, on a colt the foal of an ass. 10 I will cut off the chariot from E′phraim and the war horse from Jerusalem; and the battle bow shall be cut off, and he shall command peace to the nations; his dominion shall be from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth. As for you also, because of the blood of my covenant with you, I will set your captives free from the waterless pit.” Zechariah 9:9-11

The prophet Ezekiel even echoes the prophecy of Jacob when identifying the coming Potentate as God’s servant David:

“A ruin, ruin, ruin I will make it; there shall not be even a trace of it until he comes whose right it is; and to him I will give it.” Ezekiel 21:27

“And I will set up over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he shall feed them: he shall feed them and be their shepherd. And I, the Lord, will be their God, and my servant David shall be prince among them; I, the Lord, have spoken. I will make with them a covenant of peace and banish wild beasts from the land, so that they may dwell securely in the wilderness and sleep in the woods. And I will make them and the places round about my hill a blessing; and I will send down the showers in their season; they shall be showers of blessing. And the trees of the field shall yield their fruit, and the earth shall yield its increase, and they shall be secure in their land; and they shall know that I am the Lord, when I break the bars of their yoke, and deliver them from the hand of those who enslaved them.” Ezekiel 34:23-27

“and I will make them one nation in the land, upon the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king over them all; and they shall be no longer two nations, and no longer divided into two kingdoms. They shall not defile themselves any more with their idols and their detestable things, or with any of their transgressions; but I will save them from all the backslidings in which they have sinned, and will cleanse them; and they shall be my people, and I will be their God. My servant David shall be king over them; and they shall all have one shepherd. They shall follow my ordinances and be careful to observe my statutes. They shall dwell in the land where your fathers dwelt that I gave to my servant Jacob; they and their children and their children’s children shall dwell there for ever; and David my servant shall be their prince for ever. I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them; and I will bless them and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore. My dwelling place shall be with them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Then the nations will know that I the Lord sanctify Israel, when my sanctuary is in the midst of them for evermore.” Ezekiel 37:22-28

Other texts make it abundantly clear that it isn’t the historical David whom God would raise up to rule once again, but rather to a Davidic type, a descendant of David whom the former king foreshadowed:

“Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: ‘The Lord is our righteousness.’” Jeremiah 23:5-6 – Cf. 30:8-9, 21; 33:15-16

Astonishingly, this Davidide is said to be named YHVH our righteousness, a rather clear indication that this coming One is both human and divine!

In fact, the coming Davidic Ruler is even named the Mighty God,

“But there will be no gloom for her that was in anguish. In the former time he brought into contempt the land of Zeb′ulun and the land of Naph′tali, but in the latter time he will make glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations. The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shined… For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government will be upon his shoulder, and his name will be called ‘Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.’ Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, upon the throne of David, and over his kingdom, to establish it, and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and for evermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.”  Isaiah 9:1-2, 6-7

Which happens to be one of the titles of YHVH!

“In that day the remnant of Israel and the survivors of the house of Jacob will no more lean upon him that smote them, but will lean upon the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, in truth. A remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob, to the mighty God.” Isaiah 10:20-21

JEWISH INTERPRETATION

Here’s how some of the Jewish sources explained Jacob’s prophecy. All emphasis shall be mine.

(Gen. xlix, 10)

V The sceptre [shall not] depart from the tribe of Judah … [xlix, 10]. Whenever Israel rules, there shall [not] fail to be a descendant of David upon the throne (Jer. xxxiii, 17). For the ruler’s staff (xlix, 10) is the Covenant of kingship, [and the clans] of Israel are the divisions,⁹⁵ until the Messiah of Righteousness comes, the Branch of David. For to him and his seed is granted the Covenant of kingship over his people for everlasting generations which he is to keep… the Law with the men of the Community, for… it is the assembly of the men of… (Geza Vermes, The Complete Dead Sea Scrolls in English [Penguin Books, Revised Edition 2004], 4Q252, fr. I (Gen. vi, 3—XV, 17)p. 549)

Jehuda, thou art praise and not shame; thy brethren shall praise thee;^[11]thy hand shall prevail against thine adversaries, thine enemies shall be dispersed; they will be turned backward before thee, and the sons of thy father will come before thee with salutations. The dominion shall be (thine) in the beginning, and in the end the kingdom shall be increased from the house of Jehuda, because from the judgment of death, my son, hast thou withdrawn.^[12] He shall repose, and abide in strength as a lion, and as a lioness, there shall be no king that may cut him off. He who exerciseth dominion shall not pass away from the house of Jehuda, nor the saphra from his children’s children for ever, until the Meshiha come, whose is the kingdom, and unto whom shall be the obedience of the nations (or, whom the peoples shall obey). Israel shall pass round about in his cities; the people shall build his temple, they will be righteous round about him, and be doers of the law through his doctrine. Of goodly purple will be his raiment, and his vesture of crimson wool with colours.^[13] His mountains shall be red with his vineyards, and his hills be dropping with wine; his valleys shall be white with corn, and with flocks of sheep. (Targum Onkelos, translated by J. W. Etheridge, M.A., First Published 1862 http://targum.info/onk/Gen47_50.htm)

XLIX. And Jakob called his sons and said to them, Purify yourselves from uncleanness, and I will show you the hidden mysteries, the ends concealed, the recompense of reward for the righteous, the retribution of the wicked, and the bower of Eden, what it is. And the twelve tribes of Israel gathered themselves together around the golden bed whereon he reclined, and where was revealed to him the Shekina of the Lord, (though) the end for which the king Meshiha is to come had been concealed from him. Then said he, Come, and I will declare to you what shall befall you at the end of the days. Gather yourselves together and hear, ye sons of Jakob, and receive instruction from Israel your father…

Jehuda, thou didst make confession in the matter of Tamar: therefore shall thy brethren confess^[4] thee, and shall be called Jehudain from thy name. Thy hand shall avenge thee of thy adversaries, in throwing arrows upon them when they turn their backs before thee; and the sons of thy fathers shall come before thee with salutations. I will liken thee, my son Jehuda, to a whelp, the young of a lion; for from the killing of Joseph my son thou didst uplift thy soul, and from the judgment of Tamar thou wast free. He dwelleth quietly and in strength, as a lion; and as an old lion when he reposeth, who may stir him up? Kings shall not cease, nor rulers, from the house of Jehuda, nor sapherim teaching the law from his seed, till the time that the King the Meshiha, shall come, the youngest of his sons; and on account of him shall the peoples flow together. How beauteous is the King, the Meshiha who will arise from the house of Jehuda! He hath girded his loins, and descended, and arrayed the battle against his adversaries, Slaying kings with their rulers; neither is there any king or ruler who shall stand before him. The mountains become red with the blood of their slain; his garments, dipped in blood, are like the outpressed juice of grapes. How beautiful are the eyes of the king Meshiha, as the pure wine! He cannot look upon what is unclean, nor on the shedding of the blood of the innocent; and his teeth, purer than milk, cannot eat that which is stolen or torn; and therefore his mountains are red with wine, and his hills white with corn, and with the cotes of flocks.

[8. JEHUDA, thee shall all thy brethren praise, and from thy name shall all be called Jehudaee; thy hand shall avenge thee of thy adversaries; all the sons of thy father shall come before thee with salutation. I will liken thee, my son Jehuda, to a whelp the son of a lion: from the slaying of Joseph thou wast free, from the judgment of Tamar thou, my son, wast acquitted. He remaineth tranquil in the midst of war, as the lion and as the lioness; nor is there people or kingdom that can stand against thee. Kings shall not cease from the house of Jehuda, nor sapherim teaching the law from his children’s children, until the time that the King Meshiha shall come, whose is the kingdom, and to whom all the kingdoms of the earth shall be obedient. How beauteous is the King Meshiha, who is to arise from the house of Jehuda!

[Binding his loins, and going forth to war against them that hate him, he will slay kings with princes, and make the rivers red with the blood of their slain, and his hills white with the fat of their mighty ones; his garments will be dipped in blood, and he himself be like the juice of the winepress. More beautiful are the eyes of the king Meshiha to behold than pure wine; they will not look upon that which is unclean, or the shedding of the blood of the innocent. His teeth are employed according to the precept rather than in eating the things of violence and rapine; his mountains shall be red with vines, and his presses with his wine, and his hills be white with much corn and with flocks of sheep. (Etheridge, Targum Jonathan Ben Uzziel On the Pentateuch With The Fragments of the Jerusalem Targum From the Chaldee http://targum.info/pj/pjgen47-50.htm)

Kings shall not cease from among those of the house of Judah, and neither (shall) scribes teaching the Law from his sons’ sons until the time of King Messiah shall come whose is the kingship; to him shall all the kingdoms be subject.

How beautiful is King Messiah who is to arise from among those of the house of Judah. He girds his loins and goes forth to battle against those that hate him; and he kills kings with rulers, and makes the mountains red from the blood of their slain and makes the valleys white from the fat of their warriors (²). His garments are rolled in blood; he is like a presser of grapes.

How beautiful are the eyes of King Messiah; more than pure wine lest he see with them the revealing of nakedness or the shedding of innocent blood. His teeth are purer than milk, lest he eat with them things that are stolen or robbed. The mountains will become red from his vines and the vats from wine; and the hills will become white from the abundance of grain and flocks of sheep. (Targum Neofiti)

אמר רב לא אברי עלמא אלא לדוד ושמואל אמר למשה ורבי יוחנן אמר למשיח

Rav says: The world was created only for the sake of David, by virtue of his merit. And Shmuel says: It was created by virtue of the merit of Moses. And Rabbi Yoḥanan says: IT WAS CREATED BY VIRTUE OF THE MERIT OF THE MESSIAH.

מה שמו דבי רבי שילא אמרי שילה שמו שנאמר (בראשית מט, י) עד כי יבא שילה דבי רבי ינאי אמרי ינון שמו שנאמר (תהלים עב, יז) יהי שמו לעולם לפני שמש ינון שמו דבי רבי חנינה אמר חנינה שמו שנאמר (ירמיהו טז, יג) אשר לא אתן לכם חנינה ויש אומרים מנחם בן חזקיה שמו שנאמר (איכה א, טז) כי רחק ממני מנחם משיב נפשי ורבנן אמרי חיוורא דבי רבי שמו שנאמר (ישעיהו נג, ד) אכן חליינו הוא נשא ומכאובינו סבלם ואנחנו חשבנוהו נגוע מוכה אלהים ומעונה

Apropos the Messiah, the Gemara asks: What is his name? The school of Rabbi Sheila says: SHILOH IS HIS NAME, AS IT IS STATED: “Until when Shiloh shall come” (Genesis 49:10). The school of Rabbi Yannai says: Yinnon is his name, as it is stated: “May his name endure forever; may his name continue [yinnon] as long as the sun; and may men bless themselves by him” (Psalms 72:17). The school of Rabbi Ḥanina says: Ḥanina is his name, as it is stated: “For I will show you no favor [ḥanina]” (Jeremiah 16:13). And some say that Menaḥem ben Ḥizkiyya is his name, as it is stated: “Because the comforter [menaḥem] that should relieve my soul is far from me” (Lamentations 1:16). And the Rabbis say: The leper of the house of Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi is his name, as it is stated: “Indeed our illnesses he did bear and our pains he endured; yet we did esteem him injured, stricken by God, and afflicted” (Isaiah 53:4). (Talmud, Sanhedrin 98b https://www.sefaria.org/Sanhedrin.98b.13?lang=bi&with=all&lang2=en)

The scepter shall not depart from Judah: from David and thereafter. These (who bear the scepter after the termination of the kingdom) are the exilarchs (princes) in Babylon, who ruled over the people with a scepter, [and] who were appointed by royal mandate. — [From Sanh. 5a]

until Shiloh comes: [This refers to] the King Messiah, to whom the kingdom belongs (שֶׁלוֹ), and so did Onkelos render it: [until the Messiah comes, to whom the kingdom belongs]. According to the Midrash Aggadah, [“Shiloh” is a combination of] שַׁי לוֹ, a gift to him, as it is said: “they will bring a gift to him who is to be feared” (Ps. 76:12). – [From Gen. Rabbah ed. Theodore-Albeck p. 1210]

and to him will be a gathering of peoples: Heb. יִקְּהַת עַמִּים denoting a gathering of peoples, for the “yud” of (יִקְּהַת) is part of the root [and not a prefix], like “with your brightness (יִפְעָת‏ֶ)” (Ezek. 28: 17), and sometimes [the “yud” is] omitted. Many letters are subject to this rule, and they are called defective roots, like the “nun” of נוֹגֵף (smite), נוֹשׁ‏ֵ (bite), and the “aleph” of “and my speech (אַחְוָתִי) in your ears” (Job 13:17); and [the “aleph”] of “the scream of (אִבְחַת) the sword” (Ezek. 21:20); and [the “aleph”] of “a jug (אָסוּ‏) of oil” (II Kings 4:2). This too, is [a noun meaning] a gathering of peoples, [meaning: a number of nations who unite to serve God and join under the banner of the King Messiah] as it is said: “to him shall the nations inquire” (Isa. 11:10). Similar to this is “The eye that mocks the father and despises the mother’s wrinkles (לְיִקְּהַת אֵם)” (Prov. 30:17), [i.e., meaning] the gathering of wrinkles in her face, due to her old age. And in the Talmud [we find]: “were sitting and gathering assemblies וּמַקְהו ֹאַקְהָתָא in the streets of Nehardea” [Pumbeditha] in Tractate Yebamtoh (110b). He (Jacob) could also have said: קְהִיּת עַמִּים [Since the “yud” of יִקְהַת is not a prefix denoting the third person masculine singular, but is a defective root, the form קְהִיּת עַמִּים would be just as appropriate.]- [From Gen. Rabbah 98:9] (The Complete Jewish Bible with Rashi Commentary https://www.chabad.org/library/bible_cdo/aid/8244/showrashi/true#v10)

FULFILLMENT

The historical data points to Jacob’s prophecy reaching its complete fulfillment during the time of Jesus’ birth, since that coincides with the period when Jews were no longer permitted to carry out capital punishments in accord with the Mosaic Law.

As the following Evangelical authors explain:

1. The Removal of the Scepter

As the patriarch Jacob blessed his sons and their descendants, he told his son Judah, “The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh comes; and to Him shall be the obedience of the people” (Gen. 49:10).

The word that is translated “scepter” in this passage means a “tribal staff” or “a ruler’s staff.” The “tribal staff” of Judah was not to pass away before Shiloh came. For centuries Jewish and Christian commentators alike have taken the word Shiloh to be a name of the Messiah, for it means “peace-bringer.”

The southern kingdom of Judah was deprived of its national sovereignty during the seventy-year period of the Babylonian captivity; however, it never lost its “tribal staff” or “national identity” during that time. They still possessed their own lawgivers or judges even while in captivity (Ezra 1:5, 8).

According to this scripture and to the Jewish interpreters at that time, two signs were to take place soon at the advent of the Messiah:

• Removal of the scepter or identity of Judah

• Suppression of the judicial power

After the return from Babylon, there was no king. The Maccabean princes, who ruled for a time, were of the tribe of Levi. Herod the Great, who had no Jewish blood, succeeded the Maccabean princes and was appointed as an agent of Roman rule. Though the tribe of Judah existed, it provided no kings: the Idumean line of Herod continued to rule, under the authority of Rome.

The power of the Jewish lawgivers was also sharply restricted at the time of Christ. This restriction involved the loss of the power to pass the death sentence, and occurred after the deposition of Archelaus, the son and successor of Herod. (Josephus, AJ, XVII.13.1–5) The Roman rulers took direct rule then and removed the supreme power of the Sanhedrin in order to exercise by themselves the jus gladii, that is, the sovereign right over life and death sentences. All the nations subdued by the Roman Empire were similarly deprived of their ability to pronounce capital sentences.

The Sanhedrin, however, retained certain rights: • Excommunication (John 9:22)

• Imprisonment (Acts 5:17, 18)

• Corporal punishment (Acts 16:22)

The Talmud itself admits that “a little more than forty years before the destruction of the Temple, the power of pronouncing capital sentences was taken away from the Jews.” (Talmud, Jerusalem, Sanhedrin, fol. 24, recto) Rabbi Rachmon says, “When the members of the Sanhedrin found themselves deprived of their right over life and death, a general consternation took possession of them; they covered their heads with ashes, and their bodies with sackcloth, exclaiming: ‘Woe unto us, for the scepter has departed from Judah, and the Messiah has not come!’” (LeMann, JBS, 28–30). Sadly, they did not recognize that their Messiah had been walking in their midst. (Josh and Sean McDowell, Evidence That Demands A Verdict: Life-Changing Truth For A Skeptical World [Thomas Nelson, Nashville, Tennessee, a trademark of HarperCollins Christian Publishing, Inc., 2017], pp.  469-470; bold emphasis mine)

Here is the original source from which the McDowells quoted:

Twenty-three years before the trial of Christ the Sanhedrim lost the power of passing the death -sentence.

This took place after the deposition of Archelaus, son and successor of Herod, 11 A.D., or 7 V.E. * Judea had become a Roman province, and the procurators who administered justice in the name of Augustus deprived the Sanhedrim of its supreme power in order that they themselves might exercise the jus gladii; that is to say, the sovereign right over life and death. Every province annexed to the Roman Empire had to submit to this; and, as Tacitus says, the Romans reserved to themselves the right of the sword, and neglected all else.

The Sanhedrim still, however, retained the right to excommunicate,* to put in prison,† and to inflict corporeal punishment; but the principal right of its sovereignty-namely, the right over life and death-it possessed no longer. The Talmud itself, jealous as it is of the independence of the Jewish nation, is constrained to admit this fact: A little more than forty years before the destruction of the Temple, the power of pronouncing capital sentences was taken away from the Jews. ll. This was a terrible blow to Judea, from which neither the Jews con temporary with Christ nor their descendants have ever recovered. Rabbi Rachmon says: “When the members of the Sanhedrim found themselves deprived of their right over life and death, a general consternation took possession of them; they covered their heads with ashes, and their bodies with sackcloth, exclaiming:’ Woe unto us, for the scepter has departed from Judah, and the Messiah has not come!”* They even tried on several occasions to free themselves from the royal decree; and they have always endeavored to persuade themselves that although they had lost the power of carrying a capital sentence into execution, they still preserved the power to pronounce judgment in matters pertaining to religion. What an illusion! Every time they pronounced a sentence of death, as in the case of Christ, of Stephen,† and of James the son of Alpheus, they did it in manifest violation of the Roman laws.

Josephus, the most eminent of Jewish historians, an eye-witness of this decadence, says expressly: “After the death of the procurator Festus, when Albinus was about to succeed him, the high-priest Ananus considered it a favorable opportunity to assemble the Sanhedrim. He therefore caused James the brother of Jesus, who was called Christ, and several others, to appear before this hastily assembled council, and pronounced upon them the sentence of death by stoning. Albinus was about to succeed him, the high-priest Ananus considered it a favorable opportunity to assemble the Sanhedrim. He therefore caused James the brother of Jesus, who was called Christ, and several others, to appear before this hastily assembled council, and pronounced upon them the sentence of death by stoning. All the wise men and strict observers of the law who were at Jerusalem expressed their disapprobation of this act.… Some even went to Albinus himself, who had departed to Alexandria, to bring this breach of the law under his observation, and to inform him that Ananus had acted illegally in assembling the Sanhedrim without the Roman authority.”* This incident and the testimony of Josephus prove indisputably that in his eyes, and in those of the wisest and strictest observers of the law in the nation, the power of the Sanhedrim over life and death was gone.

*John ix. 22.

† Acts v. 17, 18.

| Acts xvi. 22.

|| Talmud, Jerusalem, Sanhedrim, fol. 24, recto. These forty years, says the learned Israelite, M. Dérembourg, form a round number, and it designates the epoch of the procuratorship of Pontius Pilate (18~37). It is hardly possible, however, that the jus gladii had remained in the Jewish power until that period. It must have ceased since Coponius, 7 A.D. (Essai sur l’histoire et la géographie de la Palestine, d’après les Talmuds et les autres sources Rabbinique, p. 90: Paris, 1867.)

*Raymond Martin, Pugio fidei, 872; Leipsic edition.

† Acts vi. 12–15; vii, 56-57.

* Josephus, Ant., xx., Chapter ix. 1. (Jesus Before the Sanhedrim, by Julius Magath, A.M., Professor in Emory College, Oxford, Ga., Translated from the French of MM. Lemann [Southern Methodist Publishing House, Nashville, Tenn., Third Edition 1887], pp. 29-31)

Hence, all the historical evidence points to Shiloh having arrived in the first century AD, and his name is Jesus Christ of Nazareth!

“You know the word which he sent to Israel, preaching good news of peace by Jesus Christ (he is Lord of all),” Acts 10:36

“For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.” Romans 14:9

“Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Philippians 2:9-11

“I charge you to keep the commandment unstained and free from reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ; and this will be made manifest at the proper time by the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no man has ever seen or can see. To him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen.” 1 Timothy 6:14-16

“and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the first-born of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.” Revelation 1:5-6

“And when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and with golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints; and they sang a new song, saying, ‘Worthy art thou to take the scroll and to open its seals, for thou wast slain and by thy blood didst ransom men for God from every tribe and tongue and people and nation, and hast made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on earth.’ Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, ‘Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!’ And I heard EVERY CREATURE in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and ALL THEREIN, saying, ‘To him who sits upon the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might for ever and ever!’ And the four living creatures said, ‘Amen!’ and the elders fell down and worshiped.” Revelation 5:8-14  

“they will make war on the Lamb, and the Lamb will conquer them, for he is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those with him are called and chosen and faithful.” Revelation 17:14

“Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! He who sat upon it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. 12 His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems; and he has a name inscribed which no one knows but himself. He is clad in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, followed him on white horses. From his mouth issues a sharp sword with which to smite the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron; he will tread the wine press of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has a name inscribed, King of kings and Lord of lords.” Revelation 19:11-16

Unless indicated otherwise, scriptural citations taken from the Revised Standard Version (RSV) from the Holy Bible.

FURTHER READING

MESSIANIC PROPHECIES SERIES PT. 1

MESSIANIC PROPHECIES PT. 3: THE TIME OF MESSIAH’S APPEARANCE

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