Jacob Predicted Two Advents Of Christ

“And it was prophesied by Jacob the patriarch4 that there would be two advents of Christ, and that in the first He would suffer, and that after He came there would be neither prophet nor king in your nation (I proceeded), and that the nations who believed in the suffering Christ would look for His future appearance. And for this reason the Holy Spirit had uttered these truths in a parable, and obscurely: for,” I added, “it is said, ‘Judah, thy brethren have praised thee: thy hands [shall be] on the neck of thine enemies; the sons of thy father shall worship thee. Judah is a lion’s whelp; from the germ, my son, thou art sprung up. Reclining, he lay down like a lion, and like [a lion’s] whelp: who shall raise him up? A ruler shall not depart from Judah, or a leader from his thighs, until that which is laid up in store for him shall come; and he shall be the desire of nations, binding his foal to the vine, and the foal of his ass to the tendril of the vine. He shall wash his garments in wine, and his vesture in the blood of the grape. His eyes shall be bright with5 wine, and his teeth white like milk.’6 Justin Martyr. (1885). Dialogue of Justin with Trypho, a Jew. In A. Roberts, J. Donaldson, & A. C. Coxe (Eds.), The Apostolic Fathers with Justin Martyr and Irenaeus (Vol. 1, p. 221). Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Company.

We should not confuse Justin's intention here with assuming that he means that the office of prophet has ceased. Rather we should understand Justin to be making the point that God is no longer using Israel as the instrument of the office of prophecy. God has spoken in the life, death, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ that the Spirit might come to all who believe (Joel 2:28; Acts 2:17). And this office is demonstrated through the one new man of the church body. God has chosen the means of the church through the institution of the Lord's Table and Baptism to function as the office of prophesy until he comes again (1Cor.11:26). God has spoken sufficiently in His eternal Son, but this does not mean God has ceased from speaking (Heb.1:1-4;2:1-4). God continues to speak salvation into the hearts of men as from the foundation of the world (Ps.33:9;1Cor.2:13;14:3;James 2:12;1Pet.4:11). "But after the manifestation and death of our Jesus Christ in your nation, there was and is nowhere any prophet: nay, further, you ceased to exist under your own king, your land was laid waste, and forsaken like a lodge in a vineyard; and the statement of Scripture, in the mouth of Jacob, ‘And He shall be the desire of nations,’ meant symbolically His two advents, and that the nations would believe in Him; which facts you may now at length discern. For those out of all the nations who are pious and righteous through the faith of Christ, look for His future appearance." Justin Martyr. (1885). Dialogue of Justin with Trypho, a Jew. In A. Roberts, J. Donaldson, & A. C. Coxe (Eds.), The Apostolic Fathers with Justin Martyr and Irenaeus (Vol. 1, p. 221). Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Company.

Justin is merely telling Trypho to behold the condition of Israel's glory, that God no longer is speaking through her. He is simply stating that her light has been taken away and was given to anyone bearing the fruit of the Spirit. Ichabod has been written upon the door of her temple, and desolation fills her synagogues, as she is now pieced together by dead idols that give no life or peace to the world. Her pride has quickly run out of power and is absent of divine love. She must look away and behold the image that ascended into the clouds, which has promised to come again, to restore her glory in the life and love of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world! (Acts 1;Rev.13:8) Romans 11:11–18 (NKJV) 11 I say then, have they stumbled that they should fall? Certainly not! But through their fall, to provoke them to jealousy, salvation has come to the Gentiles. 12 Now if their fall is riches for the world, and their failure riches for the Gentiles, how much more their fullness! 13 For I speak to you Gentiles; inasmuch as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry, 14 if by any means I may provoke to jealousy those who are my flesh and save some of them. 15 For if their being cast away is the reconciling of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead? 16 For if the firstfruit is holy, the lump is also holy; and if the root is holy, so are the branches. 17 And if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive tree, were grafted in among them, and with them became a partaker of the root and fatness of the olive tree, 18 do not boast against the branches. But if you do boast, remember that you do not support the root, but the root supports you.

Christ is who makes the root holy. It was Christ who was the seed of Israel and it is Christ who is the foundation of the church. These two branches are holy only when Christ is the root of her tree. Though these branches may be growing in opposite directions, Christ is the power that holds them together. Do you want unity? Preach Christ! Do you want the gospel to go into all the world? Preach the whole counsel of the Word of God!

Chp.53 - The Old Prophets Confirm The First Advent Of Christ

“And that expression, ‘binding his foal to the vine, and the ass’s foal to the vine tendril,’ was a declaring beforehand both of the works wrought by Him at His first advent, and also of that belief in Him which the nations would repose." Justin Martyr. (1885). Dialogue of Justin with Trypho, a Jew. In A. Roberts, J. Donaldson, & A. C. Coxe (Eds.), The Apostolic Fathers with Justin Martyr and Irenaeus (Vol. 1, p. 221). Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Company. Justin comments and gives insightful understanding to Moses' metaphoric picture of Judah, as the foal tied to the "choice" vine (Christ). Before Christ rode into Jerusalem, he sent his disciples to lose an unburdened colt of a donkey, to ride into the city upon. This was to fulfill what was spoken by Zechariah. But Justin wants Trypho to notice that this pictured Judah as the unburdened colt tied to the law of God. But the law had no effect upon Judah until the Christ came and burdened her as the true fulfillment of the law, having been crucified as King of the Jews. This was the purpose of the law, that Christ would ride into the gates of Jerusalem, as her King, bringing salvation in the Justice of Yahweh through the humiliation of his death. He enters as King to exit as both the Just and the justifier of Israel's ungodly sins.

"Now, that the Spirit of prophecy, as well as the patriarch Jacob, mentioned both an ass and its foal, which would be used by Him; and, further, that He, as I previously said, requested His disciples to bring both beasts; [this fact] was a prediction that you of the synagogue, along with the Gentiles, would believe in Him. For as the unharnessed colt was a symbol of the Gentiles, even so the harnessed ass was a symbol of your nation. For you possess the law which was imposed [upon you] by the prophets. Moreover, the prophet Zechariah foretold that this same Christ would be smitten, and His disciples scattered: which also took place. For after His crucifixion, the disciples that accompanied Him were dispersed, until He rose from the dead, and persuaded them that so it had been prophesied concerning Him, that He would suffer; and being thus persuaded, they went into all the world, and taught these truths. . . . "The following is said, too, by Zechariah: ‘O sword, rise up against My Shepherd, and against the man of My people, saith the Lord of hosts. Smite the Shepherd, and His flock shall be scattered.’2" Justin Martyr. (1885). Dialogue of Justin with Trypho, a Jew. In A. Roberts, J. Donaldson, & A. C. Coxe (Eds.), The Apostolic Fathers with Justin Martyr and Irenaeus (Vol. 1, p. 222). Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Company. All of this is necessary to open up the eyes of those tied to the demands of the law, who have diminished the law's burden by twisting them to their own destruction and separating the commandments from Christ. This was the error of Judah, and until he repents the curse remains upon him (Mal.3:9)! Trypho's heart will not be made to see Christ's salvation until the hardness within his heart is broken up and plowed over in the hearing the Word of Christ; and not until the yoke of the Law of Yahweh ties his heart upon the millstone and strangles it in the depth of the sea (Mic.7:19;Matt.18:6)!