What are the most important prophecies concerning the incarnation of the Word from the seed of King David of the Tribe of Judah?

First : in speaking to the serpent after the fall of Adam and Eve into sin, God announced that the Savior would be born from a woman, saying, “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel” (Gen. 3:15). The Savior was born from a woman and crushed the head of the serpent. Although Satan hounded Christ all the way to the Cross, the Lord Christ crushed his head by rising from the dead and liberating the righteous souls from Hades.

Second : when Jacob blessed his twelve sons, to Judah — the tribe from which Jesus came — 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” (Gen. 49:10). “ Scepter ” here refers to the King’s scepter; and “ lawgiver ” refers to the one who makes the laws and enforces them such that truth may be established. “ Shiloh ” is a Hebrew word that more or less means “one who has a scepter” or “the one to whom belongs the kingship,” and this is the meaning employed in the Septuagint’s Greek translation of the word. Thus, this verse is a prophecy about the Lord Christ that refers to Him as “Shiloh,” the King of Kings (Rev. 19:16). Consequently, we can read this verse as follows: “Sovereignty will not be taken away from the tribe of Judah, nor shall the right to judge be taken away from his descendants, until

686 St. Augustine of Hippo, Reply to Faustus the Manichaean 44 (NPNF I/4:198).

the coming of Christ the King, the Overseer, the true and eternal Judge, to whom all peoples submit.”

Third : “There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots. The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord. His delight is in the fear of the Lord, and He shall not judge by the sight of His eyes, nor decide by the hearing of His ears; but with righteousness He shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; He shall strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips He shall slay the wicked. Righteousness shall be the belt of His loins, and faithfulness the belt of His waist” (Isa. 11:1–5). So, the Lord Christ will come from the house of David son of Jesse.

Fourth : “I have made a covenant with My chosen, I have sworn to My servant David: your seed I will establish forever, and build up your throne to all generations” (Ps. 89:3–4).

“His seed [David’s descendants] also I will make to endure forever, and his throne [David’s throne] as the days of heaven” (Ps. 89:29).

“Once I have sworn by My holiness; I will not lie to David: his seed shall endure forever, and his throne as the sun before Me; it shall be established forever like the moon, even like the faithful witness in the sky, amen” (Ps. 89:35–37).

These words about the continuation of David’s reign “forever,” “to all generations” ; and about his throne being established “like the days of heaven,” “as the sun before Me,” were not fulfilled except in the person of the Lord Christ who is descended from David.