"Until Shiloh Come"

A few years ago, a member of the church asked me who Shiloh was in Genesis 49:10. Was Shiloh a reference to a prophecy of Jesus coming, and if so, what did the phrase, "the sceptre not departing" refer to.

The following was my response to that member: Genesis 49:10 KJV reads, "The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be."

Genesis 49:10 is definitely a prophecy of the coming of the Messiah. The word "Shiloh" means "place of rest" or "rest-giver," which Christ is (Matthew 11:28). The phrase, "the sceptre shall not depart" refers to the fact that Judah would not produce the scepter of lawgiving and authority "until Shiloh [Christ] come." The gist of Genesis 49:10, is the fact that the son of Jacob (Judah) would produce a tribe (Genesis 49:1-2,8-12). But that tribe would not produce the law of government for God's people until Christ came, who was of the tribe of Judah (Matthew 1:3; Hebrews 7:14; cf. Genesis 49:9; Revelation 5:5). Also see Numbers 24:17; Isaiah 11:1; Micah 4:2).

Until that time, the tribe of Levi would have the responsibility of producing the law of government for God's people and would be administered through the law of Moses (Exodus 24:1-18; Numbers 3:1-10; Deuteronomy 33:1-5; John 1:17). When Shiloh [Christ] came, the people would then gather to Him (Mark 12:37; John 12:32; cf. Romans 5:18; Hebrews 2:9). Genesis 49:10 is a beautiful prediction of the coming of Christ to become our king, priest, and lawgiver, replacing the law of Moses (Hebrews 7:11-17). We are presently under the law to Christ in the Christian dispensation (Romans 8:2; 1 Corinthians 9:21; Gal. 6:2; James 1:25; James 2:12).

In the American Standard Version of 1901, the latter portion of the text in Genesis 49:10 ASV reads, "And unto him shall the obedience of the peoples be." The term "peoples" is significant in that it is plural. It foresees the universal reign of Christ over His kingdom, the church (cf. Genesis 12:3; Genesis 18:18; Genesis 22:18; Genesis 26:4; Genesis 28:14; Psalm 2:8; Daniel 2:44; Micah 4:1-7; Luke 1:31-33; Gal. 3:16; 1 Peter 2:5; Revelation 1:5-6; Revelation 5:9-10). His subjects being made up of both Jews and Gentiles (Acts 2:1-47; Acts 10:1-48; Acts 13:44-48; cf. Isaiah 42:6; Isaiah 49:6; Isaiah 60:1-3; Luke 2:25-32).

—Mike Riley, Gospel Snippets