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.
History repeats itself. George Santayana famously said, ” Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it”. This verse would seem to prove that Jacob could not learn from his own mistakes, much less those of others before him. That is not the case however. He is prophesying to a great truth. If you know your Genesis story, you know that Joseph was the favorite son of Jacob, never a good idea, and it led to jealousy, attempted murder, and the glory of God when the brothers were reunited and saved from starvation. One of those brothers was Judah. Jacob said that his brothers would praise him and bow down to him. I wonder if the others said, “Not again!” My guess is that they knew this was of the Lord. Jacob was telling the story of the King of kings and Lord of lords, Jesus Christ.
History does indeed repeat itself. Man continually forgets God and falls in pride. God continually picks us up and shows us mercy and forgiveness. We repeat our mistakes. God repeats his loving kindness. Jacob’s prophecy is for us. We shall praise Jesus and bow down to him for eternity. It will be history repeating itself over and over again but will never get tedious. We will want to praise him forever. Our prayers too are repetitive at times but never tedious.
Dear Lord, thank you for history repeating itself in your promise-keeping love for us. May we repeat the prayer of praise to you over and over because of your repetitive mercy on us in forgiving our sins. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Pastor Brad Boyer
Cape Community Church