Sunday Thoughts: Surprises in the Family Tree

Admit it: you scan through or skip past Jesus ‘ genealogies ( Matthew 1: 1-17 and Luke 3: 23-38 ) in the Bible. It’s an effortless habit. Some of those unique brands can be hard to spell, and if you’re reading the KJV, there’s that peculiar expression “begat”.

I’m no judging you if you do that, but you’re missing out on some wealthy surprises. Matthew’s history in particular is a cool lessons in how the church is for everybody. Let me present you.

Here’s the history:

The publication of the lineage of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the parents of Judah and his sons, and Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, and Perez the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Ram, and Ram the father of Amminadab, and Amminadab the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon the father of Salmon, and Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab, and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of David the prince. &nbsp,

And David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah, and Solomon the father of Rehoboam, and Rehoboam the father of Abijah, and Abijah the father of Asaph, and Asaph the father of Report, and Jehoshaphat the father of Joram, and Joram the father of Uzziah, and Uzziah the father of Jotham, and Jotham the father of Ahaz, and Ahaz the father of Hezekiah, and Hezekiah the father of Manasseh, and Manasseh the father of Amos, and Amos the father of Josiah, and Josiah the father of Jechoniah and his sons, at the time of the imprisonment to Babylon. &nbsp,

And after the imprisonment to Babylon: Jechoniah was the father of Shealtiel, and Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel, and Zerubbabel the father of Abiud, and Abiud the father of Eliakim, and Eliakim the father of Azor, and Azor the father of Zadok, and Zadok the father of Achim, and Achim the father of Eliud, and Eliud the father of Eleazar, and Eleazar the parents of Matthan, and Matthan the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Joseph the father of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called Christ. &nbsp,

But, all the years starting with Abraham to David were fourteen years, and all the way through David to Babylon fourteen years, and finally Christ fourteen years.

Matthew 1: 1-17 ( ESV )

For instance, Matthew includes ladies in his history. That’s out of the ordinary for Israeli histories.

” Happily, we did not omit people in our histories now, most ancient histories, however, did so”, writes Craig Keener. ” Had Matthew wanted to include the most prominent women in &nbsp, his list, he could have included Israel’s most famous matriarchs: Sarah, Rebekah, Leah, and ( less directly relevant to Jesus ‘ line ) Rachel”.

But Matthew does n’t include those Israelite matriarchs. First of, there’s Tamar, Judah’s Hebrew daughter-in-law, who later bore children to Judah. Although Judah and his sons did n’t treat her well, God redeemed her story ( see Genesis 38 ).

Rahab is the next person in Jesus ‘ history. Not only was Rahab a tribal of Jericho, but Joshua 2 informs us that she was also a woman! When Joshua and his army leveled Jericho, the Israelites welcomed her and her home in, making them permanent members of the family because she showed sufficient faith in the God of the Hebrews to defend their spies. Joshua 6: 25 tells us,” But Rehabilitation the woman and her husband’s house and all who belonged to her, Joshua saved intact. And she has resided in Israel to this day because she hid the ambassadors Joshua had dispatched to detective on Jericho.

In a recent Tabletalk passion, it is stated that” God included gentile in His law people even before the coming of Christ because it has never been His purpose to restrict forgiveness to one persons team.” No matter what national nature, God wants people from every community and lips in His blessed kingdom, so the church must accept anyone who believes in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Finally there’s Ruth. When their husbands passed away, she was a Goddess woman who refused to abandon her Israeli mother-in-law Naomi’s part. Ultimately, Naomi’s kinsman-redeemer Boaz took on the home, marrying Ruth and making her the great-grandmother of King David. This beautiful story is told in Ruth’s wonderful guide.

Lastly, there’s Bathsheba. Of course, this girl was David’s greatest desire. He wanted her, and he lusted after her as she took a shower on the roof. It’s difficult to imagine that she could avoid the king’s orders, whether you think of their sexual intercourse or their dalliance rape. However, David had Bathsheba’s father killed and took her as his wife, and she bore the king’s son, Solomon. 2 Samuel 11 and 12 tell her tale.

Why does Matthew include both christian women and women with checkered sexual histories in Matthew? It’s part of God’s concept that forgiveness is for everyone.

According to Nancy Guthrie,” Matthew seems to be going out of his way to make clear to his Israeli readers that God had generally intended for his blessings, promises, and principle to be for people from every community, tongue, and country — not just for those who had real Jewish blood in their veins,” It seems as though Matthew was making it clear that the body of the people of God, the family of God, has always been the subject of conviction. It is about taking maintain of the claims God made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, which is exactly what Tamar, Rahab, and Ruth did”.

Take satisfaction and assistance in the knowledge that God’s claims extend beyond the borders of His chosen people. If God can accept people like these as His people, you can also be a part of His people as long as you accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior.

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