Jacob – Connection to the Messiah?
Jacob, grandson of Abraham, is far removed from Jesus of Nazareth having lived some 2000 years earlier. Still, nearly two millennia later when Jesus arrived on the scene, there is a strong connection between Jacob, the Messiah and the life of Jesus of Nazareth.
Five times in Exodus the phase was used when speaking of God: “the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.”[1] In Bible history, the first connection is demonstrated by God’s introduction of Himself to Moses from a burning bush not being consumed by the fire.
Moses was hesitant about confronting Pharaoh in Egypt as the Voice directed. Moses ventured to ask the Voice what he should say if asked who sent him to lead Israel out of Egypt compelling God’s resounding response:
EX 3:14-15 “I AM WHO I AM”; and He said, “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.” God, furthermore, said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ‘The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’”. (NASB)
God later promised Jacob the same blessings given to his father, Isaac, and his grandfather, Abraham. Blessing Jacob, God also changed his name:[2]
Gen. 35:10-11 “Your name is Jacob. Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel (Yisra’el), shall be your name.” And He named him Israel. And God said to him, “I am the Almighty God; be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a multitude of nations shall come into existence from you, and kings shall come forth from your loins.(CJV)
Yisra’el, means “God Prevails” and to this day, Israel is the name of the Hebrew nation.”[3]
As time went on, Israel’s sons would become known as the fathers of the 12 tribes Israel.[4]
Before he died, Jacob blessed each of his sons and foretold their future. Specifically to Judah:[5]
Gen. 49:8-10 Judah, [as for] you, your brothers will acknowledge you. Your hand will be at the nape of your enemies, [and] your father’s sons will prostrate themselves to you. A cub [and] a grown lion is Judah. From the prey, my son, you withdrew. He crouched, rested like a lion, and like a lion, who will rouse him? The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the student of the law from between his feet, until Shiloh comes, and to him will be a gathering of peoples. (CJV)
Rabbi Rashi is one of Judaism’s most revered scriptural interpreters. Rashi believed, as does Christianity, the blessing of Judah by his father Jacob was a pretext prophecy to the establishment of the kingdom of David.
Rashi commented,“the scepter” refers to the royal lineage of “David and thereafter”and “King Messiah, to whom the kingdom belongs.”[6]
“The scepter” (also interpreted as “the staff”) reappears over 400 years later in another prophecy tied to Jacob. Moab King Balak, an enemy of Israel, sought to have a curse placed on the Hebrew nation by the prophet Balaam. Instead, the response from God through Balaam was a prophecy linked to Jacob, a Star and the Scepter:
Num 24:17 “I see Him, but not now; I behold Him, but not near; a Star shall come out of Jacob; a Scepter shall rise out of Israel, and batter the brow of Moab, and destroy all the sons of tumult.” (NKJV)
“The Star” shooting forth from Jacob, the Rabbi interpreted to mean, “As the Targum [Onkelos] renders, an expression similar to ‘He has bent his bow’ (Lam. 2:4), for a star shoots out like an arrow; in old French, destent, as if to say, his good fortune shall rise [prosper].”[7]
Promises made to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were partially fulfilled when Israel conquered the land of Canaan and established a kingdom ruled by King David from the tribe of Judah.[8]
Prophet Nathan prophesied to King David that his kingdom would become the throne for the kingdom of God forever:[9]
2 Sam 7:12 “When your life is complete and you go to join your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring after you, who will come forth from your body, and I will fortify his kingdom.” (ISV)
Hebrew prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah, Zechariah, Ezekiel, Micah and Malachi would add more specific details about the One who would come forth from Jacob.[10] Among the prophecies, they would include characteristics of the Messiah and predict the circumstances of his birth, life and death.
Gabriel, the Messenger of God, issued another Messiah prophecy about the house of Jacob – Israel – when he visited Mary. The archangel announced:
LK 1:31-33 “And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end.”
According to Luke, Gabriel proclaimed the promise made to Jacob and the prophecies of the prophets would be fulfilled when Mary would give birth to the Son of God. Further, he would be given the throne of David to reign over the house of Jacob forever.
During his ministry, Jesus quoted the same words from Exodus as proof of resurrection of the dead when God spoke of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the present tense:
MK 12:26 “…Moses showed in the burning bush passage that the dead are raised, when he called the Lord ‘the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’”(NKJV)[11]
Where would the promise of the Messiah be without a connection to Jacob?
Updated September 6, 2025.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Translations:
ISV: International Standard Version
NASB: New American Standard Bible
NET: NetBible
NIV: New International Version
NLT: New Living Translation
NKJV: New King James Version
NRSV: New Revised Standard Version
REFERENCES:
[1] Exodus 3:6, 14-16; 4:5; 33:1. NET, NIV, NASB, NLT, NRSV, NKJV.
[2] CR Genesis 50; Exodus 33; Deuteronomy 1, 9, 30; I Chronicles 16; Jeremiah 33.
[3] NetBible.org. Hebrew text. Yisra’el <03478> Lexicon-Concordance Online Bible. n.d <http://lexiconcordance.com/hebrew/3478.html> CR Isaiah 43, 45.
[4] I Chronicles 2:1-12; 2 Kings 17. “Twelve Tribes of Israel.” Encyclopædia Britannica. 2018. <https://www.britannica.com/topic/Twelve-Tribes-of-Israel> Posner, Yecheskel. “12 Tribes of Israel: The Shevatim.” n.d. <https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/3798842/jewish/12-Tribes-of-Israel-The-Shevatim.htm> “Ancient Jewish History: The Twelve Tribes of Israel.” Jewish Virtual Library. 2018. <https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/the-twelve-tribes-of-israel>
[5] Genesis 49. Lion of Judah (no title). Dahsom’s Blog. photo. 2019. <https://www.morninghope.com/genesis-49-jacob-blesses-his-sons-and-dies>
[6] Genesis 49:10. Rashi commentary. The Compete Jewish Bible – with Rashi Commentary. <https://www.chabad.org/library/bible_cdo/aid/8244#showrashi=true> Mindel, Nissan. “Rashi (Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki).” <http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/111831/jewish/Rabbi-Shlomo-Yitzchaki-Rashi.htm>
[7] Numbers 24:17 Rashi commentary. Complete Jewish Bible with Rashi Commentary. <https://www.chabad.org/library/bible_cdo/aid/9952#showrashi=true>
[8] 2 Samuel 5; 1 Chronicles 11. Josephus. Antiquites of the Jews. Book VII, Chapter III.2.
[9] CR I Chronicles 17.
[10] Isaiah 2, 9, 10, 11, 20, 44, 46, 49, 58, 59, 60. Jeremiah 23, 30, 31, 33; Zechariah 3, 6, 12. Ezekiel 39. Micah 5. Malachi 3.
[11] CR Matthew 8, 22; Luke 20:36-38; 13.