The patriarch Jacob “called his sons and said, ‘Gather together, that I may tell you what shall befall you in the last days’” (Genesis 49;1). As Jacob addressed his sons, he said to 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” (Genesis 49:10, NKJV). This is a Messianic prophecy indicating the first coming of Christ.
The word scepter was “a rod held in the hands of kings as a token of authority” (Graybill 758). A biblical example involving the scepter is seen when the Persian king, Ahasuerus, “held out to Esther the golden scepter that was in his hand. Then Esther went near and touched the tope of the scepter” (Esther 5:1-2). Esther’s touching the top of the golden scepter was an act of respect and an indication of her desire to speak to the king.
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