Pray the words of this Lazaroo aloud, in stunned wonder:

“…though Judah was the strongest of his brothers and a ruler came from him, the rights of the firstborn belonged to Joseph…”
(1 Chronicles 5:2)

Of the 12 sons of Jacob

why did a ruler come from Judah?

Yes, he was stronger than them all

but as a middle child –
the fourth son of the wife his father didn’t love –
he had no claim on a firstborn’s right to rule his brothers.

Nor did he earn that right by clean living.

He was so jealous of his younger brother Joseph
that he sold him to foreigners as a slave

and made his father think his favorite son
had been killed by a wild animal.

He had sex with a woman he thought was a prostitute
only to learn he had impregnated his daughter-in-law.

And yet, Jesus, the ruler who came from this deeply flawed man

and their child

was You.

_________
Genesis 29:31-35; Genesis 37:17-36; Genesis 38:1-30; Deuteronomy 21:15-17; 2 Kings 3:27; Matthew 1:1-16; Romans 8:29; Revelation 5:1-5

What is Lazaroo?

Take Me Deeper

Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright© 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.