Matthew 1:1-17
This is a picture of Ruth I drew today on autodesk sketchbook. My purpose was to display vison looking forward to something she yet could not see.
The Christ did not come out of nowhere, but was born from the promise of God. There is a genealogy and pillars of faith, Abraham and David. From the beginning God had a plan to save men and women from sin. Through Abraham we can see this plan unfold as God said to him, "I will make you into a great nation." God gave him one son, Isaac. He would be heir to the promise of God. His son Jacob became the father of the twelve tribes of Israel. They lived in Egypt as slaves for 400 years until God delivered them.
God used women of faith in the genealogy. Tamar kept the family line even at the risk of being misunderstood. Rahab was the mother of Boaz, the kinsman redeemer who married Ruth. Now Ruth became the great grandmother of King David. Her son Obed became the father of Jesse who is the father of King David. Ruth herself was a foreigner from Moab but she returned to Israel with her mother-in-law Naomi trusting the God of Israel. She was a nobody and had to eat only leftovers when she returned to Israel with Naomi, but God had his eyes on her and took care of her.
The mother of Solomon is mentioned as the one who "had been Uriah's wife". Although her name is not mentioned directly, this act of adultery was not excluded from the genealogy. David slept with Bathsheba and then tried to cover it up by having her husband Uriah killed in battle. At the word of Nathan the prophet, David repented and God forgave his sins. David married Bathsheba and took care of her. When Solomon was born, God promised that his kingdom would be established through Solomon. His mother Bathsheba remembered the promise and God used her in his redemptive history as well.
When we look at the genealogy we see human kingdoms are week because of sin. God forgives sin, but the influence of sin spreads. The kingdom was split in two from north and south. King after king stepped up to Judah and some did what was right and some did not. The time of exile to Babylon was close, but many kings allowed the Ashtoreth poles and Baals and allowed worship at the high places. Both Israel and Judah were corrupt and they almost lost the word of God.
The candle of God's history seemed to flicker a few times but it did not go out. God used a few faithful people in history. There are so many stories and Matthew did not include all of them like the princess Jehoshabeath, the daughter of King Jehoram, who secretly hid her son Jehoash in a bedroom with his nurse when Ahaziah's mother had tried to destroy the entire royal family (2 Chronicles 22). We see Jehoram's name in the genealogy, but we don't see Jehoash nor his son Amaziah (2 Chronicles 25). The genealogy goes directly from Jehoram to Uzziah even though Amaziah was Uzziah's father.
From Uzziah there were times of reform when the people turned to the Lord. We can see this in Jotham, Hezekiah and Josiah. However Josiah's sons, Jehoahaz and Jehoiakim were not mentioned (2 Chronicles 36). Jehoahaz was taken out by Neco of Egypt and replaced with Jehoiakim as a puppet king. These two brothers were not included by Matthew in the genealogy. The genealogy goes directly to Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim at the time of exile to Babylon.
Matthew says there were "fourteen generations in all from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the exile to Babylon, and fourteen from the exile to the Messiah." This is the way he saw history as three steps leading to the birth of the Christ. There is a lot of spiritual wisdom in this verse. God was with them from the beginning when he made the promise, to Abraham, to David to the Exile and to the Christ.
Finally, the last woman included in the genealogy is Mary the mother of Jesus who is called Christ. She was a simple country girl, but she accepted the promise of God and God used her in this genealogy. When we look at history we see events that don't make sense but God sees the characters in history. Sometimes God doesn't need to recognize the people who seem to be doing really outstanding and have great titles but God lifts up the humble. God includes people that have no title and seem to be the smallest people in the world. God uses them in his history. Some of them like Ruth never knew in their lifetime how God used them. They were just happy to serve God's purpose in a small way. God used them in the greatest way.
It's time to rid my heart of selfish ambition and serve freely in the place we are now. Well It's been thousands of years since Matthew wrote these names. I shouldn't fret if my name is in there or not. God is still working through the humble.
hiveblocks