Matthew 1
1 This is a record of the ancestors of Jesus the Messiah, a descendant of David and of Abraham: 2 Abraham was the father of Isaac.
Isaac was the father of Jacob.
Jacob was the father of Judah and his brothers.
3 Judah was the father of Perez and Zerah (whose mother was Tamar).
Perez was the father of Hezron.
Hezron was the father of Ram.
4 Ram was the father of Amminadab.
Amminadab was the father of Nahshon.
Nahshon was the father of Salmon.
5 Salmon was the father of Boaz (whose mother was Rahab).
Boaz was the father of Obed (whose mother was Ruth).
Obed was the father of Jesse.
6 Jesse was the father of King David.
David was the father of Solomon (whose mother was Bathsheba, the widow of Uriah).
Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, Bathsheba.
These are the four women mentioned by Matthew in the first set of 14 of Matthew's geneology of Jesus.
First, Tamar. Check out Genesis 38. Judah, one of the sons of Jacob, had arranged for his oldest son to get married to Tamar. God didn't like Er, Judah's first son, so He killed him. As the law required, Judah encouraged his second son, Onan, to take Tamar as his wife so that Er's family name could continue and he'd have an heir. Onan refused to produce an heir for his brother and wouldn't get Tamar pregnant. God thought it was evil, so he killed Onan too. Finally Judah sent Tamar away until his third son could become old enough to marry Tamar. However, when Judah's third son grew up, Judah did not arrange for Tamar and he to marry. Tamar knew this and so she dressed up as a prostitute and tricked Judah into sleeping with her and getting he pregnant. Tamar tricked her own father-in-law into having sex with her and getting her pregnant. Why, again, would Matthew include this woman in Jesus' geneology?
Second, Rahab. Check out Joshua 2. Rahab was a well-known prostitute in one of the most evil cities in Canaan. Whenever men would come to the city, she would put them up in her home, and prostitute herself out to the men. They paid her for a place to sleep, and they paid her for someone to sleep with. Why, again, would Matthew include this woman in Jesus' geneology?Third, Ruth. Check out the Old Testament book of Ruth. In Chapter 3 of Ruth, Ruth goes to Boaz and uncovers his feet. She has dressed up as nice as she can and smells good, and she uncovers his feet. This is basically a way to appear attractive to Boaz and to offer herself to Boaz. While this instance isn't much like the first woman, Tamar, nor is she as obviously in sin as Rahab the prostitute, Ruth was still a Moabite and of a questionable background. Yet, Matthew includes the story.
The fourth woman mentioned in the geneology is Bathsheba. You can read the story of her in 2 Samuel 11. The story goes that David stays home from fighting with his army at a time when he shouldn't. He looks down from his rooftop and sees Bathsheba bathing naked. He desires her and sends for her. While her husband Uriah is off fighting, David sleeps with her and gets her pregnant. David then sends for Uriah and tries to get him to sleep with his wife so he could cover up that David is the one that got her pregnant. But that doesn't work. David tries again, but it doesn't work, again. After all of that, David decides to put Uriah at the front of the fighting so that he will be killed. This works, and David is guilty of murdering a man to have his wife. David, the king of Israel, God's favorite, murders a man to get this woman. This woman isn't so much of questionable background, besides not being an Israelite. However, Matthew includes a story that is so shameful of David, the pride of all Jews? He even refers to Bathsheba as Uriah's widow, not David's wife. He's bringing this point out for a reason. Why does he include this in the geneology?
These women all have stories. They are sketchy stories. They are ugly dirty stories. Look at them. None of them are even Israelites by birth. All of them have questionable stories to go along with them. Sin is rampant in and around these lives. And yet Matthew includes them.
Maybe Matthew is making a point. Maybe he is saying that God works through sin and sinful people. Maybe Matthew pulls out these stories because they are stories of places where God's people have screwed up, but God is faithful and merciful, and He forgives His people. The kingdom of Israel reaches it's high point with David and Solomon, despite the terrible stories we read about throughout the beginning of the Old Testament. People sinned, and they seeked out God's forgivness, and God was merciful.That's the story Matthew is painting with the first 14 generations. God was in control and He was merciful to His people. He forgave His people. He blessed His people. Amen.
More to come in a matter of hours.
Later guys,
Matt
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