The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be. Genesis 49:10. CTr 93.1
The great controversy between the Prince of life and the prince of darkness has been going forward, strengthening with each successive generation. Severe indeed has been the conflict waged between right and wrong, between truth and error, between the kingdom of light and the kingdom of darkness. Truth has fought against error and error against truth. The conflict has existed for thousands of years.... CTr 93.2
The truth as it is in Jesus will gain the victory that the prophecy assured to it; but to all human appearance, error will overwhelm truth. The larger number of the human race will be swept into idolatry. They will lift up that which Christ has not lifted up and strive to tear down God's great standard of righteousness.... CTr 93.3
Satan is referred to as the originator of sin. “For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.” Satan's first manifest defeat was his failure to overcome Christ in the wilderness of temptation.... CTr 93.4
“The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be.” This prophecy was uttered by the dying Jacob, and addressed to his sons. But it bore with weight upon future generations.... The scepter is a rod carried in the hands of chiefs and rulers as a badge of authority.... “The sceptre shall not depart from Judah.” The ensign of his tribeship shall remain. Judah shall not cease to be a distinct tribe until Shiloh come.... And the tribe of Judah did maintain its supremacy through all its adversities till Christ's first advent. It remained a distinct tribe till Shiloh came. CTr 93.5
Nearly seventeen hundred years before the death of Christ the dying Jacob uttered this prophecy. Christ Himself threw back the veil, that with prophetic eye Jacob could trace the history of his descendants.... He saw a wonderful Counsellor arise in the midst of this tribe. It was the promised Seed, Shiloh, the Sent of God, who was to set up a spiritual kingdom. Jacob saw the time when the scepter would no longer be in the hands of Judah. The nations would be gathered under the banner of Christ. When the Jews appeared before Pilate to secure Christ, they said, “We have no king but Caesar.” By this they confessed that the scepter had indeed departed from Judah.—Manuscript 110, 1897. CTr 93.6