Matthew 1:1-17 and Luke 2:1-5
Everyone knows that the genealogies in the
Bible are about the biggest yawn there is…Rather than the words “the father of”
as in our first scripture, the King James version uses the word “begat”…
“Rehoboam begat Abijah; Abijah begat Asa; Asa begat Ralph…and so on. It’s about
as exciting as reading the phone book. However, if we apply and believe 2
Timothy 3:16 which says that “All scripture is given by inspiration of God and
is profitable for doctrine; reproof; correction; and instruction in
righteousness”…Then we would have to believe that includes all the “begats”.
What is obvious from the prominence given
all these names at the beginning of Matthew’s book, is that, what we consider
to be boring, was of great importance to the original audience….to the early
readers. In those days, in order to own land in Israel, you had to be able to
show public documents that proved your genealogy and your right to own a piece
of the “holy land”. It also would determine other things depending on which
tribe you belonged to. There were certain privileges reserved for certain
tribes; For example, to be a priest, you had to be of the tribe of Levi and
therefore you would have - here it comes - Levi’s genes! The Jews could trace their ancestry all the way back to Abraham. But, something else made this important to the Jews. They knew that the Messiah would come from the house and lineage of David - of the tribe of Judah.
The genealogy of Matthew is a carefully constructed one that includes some names and excludes others. We are given an interpretive clue in verse 17 - “Thus there were 14 generations from Abraham to David; 14 generations from David to the exile in Babylon; and 14 from the exile to Christ”… There is obviously a purpose in telling us this, and there has been much speculation as to what it means, but for the sake of this message, I’ll pass on all of that for now. But, I do find three things that stand out in this “14 generation” - 17th. Verse, and that’s what I want to bring out on this Advent.
In the first section, the first 14 generations, you will find God’s promise being established and His mercy upon the people; In the second section, you will find God’s promise concerning Abraham’s seed, being enhanced to include the throne of David…as well as a time of judgment. And, in the last section you find God’s faithfulness in His promise fulfilled.
In the first section we find the mention of four women. It was unusual to mention women because genealogies were always recorded through the male offspring. You might expect Matthew to mention some grand women of the Old Testament like Sarah, Rebecca, and Rachel. But, instead he mentions Tamar, Rahab, Ruth and Bathsheba; although she is not mentioned by name, she is called “the wife of Uriah.” It’s interesting that some 1000 years later, she isn’t called David’s wife, She is Uriah’s wife. Maybe there is a lesson there.
Two of these women are not even Jewish. Rahab was a Gentile prostitute; Ruth was a Moabite; I believe that God - through Matthew - is showing us that there is a wideness in His mercy and grace that reaches beyond the Jewish people. His love is bigger than the Jewish race. And, to show that Jesus was the Savior of ALL people. What God had promised Abraham was true; “Through you shall ALL nations be blessed.”
God is not sexist; God is not racist; and He certainly is not a God who lifts up only the good for us to see, and hides the bad. For God wants us to see that His mercy and love is bigger than Tamar’s sin; it’s bigger than Rahab’s sin; It’s bigger than Bathsheba’s sin; and His love is bigger than my sin or your sin…And, He will use even stained, soiled, but repentant sinners to fulfill His plan…and He still does today!
But, we are not done. In verse 6 Matthew mentions Jesse the father of David. As we have heard, the prophet Isaiah said “a shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a branch will bear fruit.” If you read the entire chapter you will find he was not speaking of David, but of Jesus.
Through the reign of David and Solomon. Israel is riding high. They thought they were on the brink of paradise. But, suddenly it all came crumbling down,and these 14 generations from verses 6-11 carry us into the dark period of Israel’s history. A time of great unfaithfulness to God. We read the stories of the kings who came after David, and we find that their hearts were not devoted to God - and neither were the people. They worshipped false gods; there was wide-spread immorality; and they soon get a lesson in God’s judgment.
It’s easy to mistake God’s love and mercy for indulgence or a remission of punishment; but, God does not take unfaithfulness lightly, and God judges sin. God was longing for His people to repent, but eventually, he had to discipline their unrighteous ways. Two things we can learn from this is that God judges sin and unrighteousness, even when it may not seem like it at the time; and, a part of His discipline is separating himself from His people.
More on this tomorrow…
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