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First Fourteen Descendants. Now let's
look at the names and see what God has for us. Matthew’s genealogy for the Messiah through King David
starts like this,
Abraham was the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers. Judah was the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, Perez was the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Ram. Ram was the father of Amminadab, Amminadab the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon the father of Salmon. Salmon was the father of Boaz by Rahab, Boaz was the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse. Jesse was the father of David the king. (NASB) Matt. 1:2-6a This is an amazing genealogy because it reveals that the series of prophecies about the Messiah being the
son of Abraham, Isaac, Judah, Jacob, Jesse, and David were already in place. Now the only question left is:
is Jesus a descendant of these men? As we look closer at the list, we discover that there are three Gentile
women: Tamar, Rehab, and Ruth. Who are they and why are they here?
Tamar. Tamar was a Canaanite and a daughter in-law of Judah (Gen. 38). Her first
husband was Er, and Onan was her second husband by leverite marriage. She did not bear sons to either husband.
Consequently, Judah promised her his son Shelah as her third husband, but he did not keep that promise. So
Tamar tricked Judah into having sex with her one day, and she finally gave birth to a son who was named Perez.
This was a violation of God’s holy standard, but she gave birth to a son who would be the ancestor of
the Messiah. God showed her mercy and granted her desire. Why was she included in the list? Matthew did not
need to include her name. Matthew could have just said “to Judah was born Perez.” No, he added “by
Tamar.” Why was her name included?
Rahab. The second woman in the list is Rahab. She was a Gentile who lived in
Jericho and hid two Jewish spies when they came to secretly investigate this foreign land (Joshua 2:1-24; 6:22-25).
The book of Hebrews calls Rahab a woman of faith; she was a Gentile who exercised faith. She had trusted God
when she protected the Jewish spies. Therefore, the Israelites protected her when they invaded the land. She
eventually became the wife of Salmon and gave birth to Boaz. Why was she included in this list? |
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| Life & Heart of Jesus | |||||
