LBCF 1689 Reflections. Part 85

Reflections on the Baptist Confession of Faith of 1689. 23 Aug 14 began a perhaps unbroken, orderly, and personal journey through my favorite written confession of faith. This will be my personal reflections on this beloved written codification of the Christian Faith which is according to a Baptist flavor.

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Chapter 8, paragraph 2b: “…and so was made of a woman of the tribe of Judah, of the seed of Abraham and David according to the Scriptures…”

Jacob’s sons are the start of the tribes of Israel. That Jesus is born of the tribe of Judah is a large part of him “filling the shoes” as the promised Messiah. He came to die for the seed of Abraham. Hebrews 2:14-18. He came to die for his elect. There are many descriptors given for him in the older Scriptures. That he’d be a descendent of the tribe of Judah, through the bloodline therefore also of King David, was huge. This is why we call Jesus “The King of kings”. In Genesis 49:10, Jacob (AKA Israel) gave some last words to his kids. To Judah he said: “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.” There are sub-fulfillments of this prophetic promise in the line of kings in Judah before Christ, even through A.D. 7, but in Jesus we see the total fulfillment.

Jacob was speaking as only God can.

In Luke 1:32-33 Gabriel tells Mary, “He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.” Jesus knew full well what he’d given through the older Scriptures. In Luke 20:41-44 Jesus says: “And He said to them, “How can they say that the Christ is the Son of David? Now David himself said in the Book of Psalms: ‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand, till I make Your enemies Your footstool.”’ Therefore David calls Him ‘Lord’; how is He then his Son?” Jesus here tells us clearly that he, the God-man, is both David’s descendant and David’s God.

All Jesus did, as the confession affirms, was “according to the Scriptures”. The depth of this is far beyond any human authorship.