Individuals Omitted from the 2nd Period in the Genealogy of Jesus Christ

Scripture reading: Matt. 1:8

Matthew 1:8 ESV

and Asaph the father of Jehoshaphat, and Jehoshaphat the father of Joram, and Joram the father of Uzziah,

Introduction

Our church is a church that studies the genealogies in the Bible. And we do so because we believe that all scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness. That’s in 2 Tim. 3:16. And as a church founded by Rev. Abraham Park, it is our heritage and heirloom to understand the genealogies and its meaning for us today.

And today we are studying the genealogy of Jesus in the book of Matthew, which is divided into three periods. The first period is from Abraham to David. The second is from David to the Babylonian exile. And the third is from the exile to the birth of Jesus Christ.

And this afternoon, we are looking at the 2nd period of this genealogy.

Now one thing we’ve learned about Jesus’ genealogy is that it has omissions. Names have been taken out. How do we know this? As we’ll see later on, the historical record of 1 and 2 Kings contains four kings from the line of David whose names do not appear in this genealogy.

This is the most important family tree in the entire world. This is more prestigious than the list of US presidents. And so for names to be taken out, it tells us that there must be some reason for the omission. This tells us that the genealogy of Jesus Christ is more than a historical record: it’s a message, and it’s an invitation.

It tells us that there has been an unceasing flow of the covenant through the spiritual lineage from Adam, to Abraham, to Jesus. And through the Gospel, we learn that this genealogy is more than a message: it is an invitation.

In the 2nd period, four kings were omitted: Ahaziah, Athaliah, Joash, and Amaziah.

What did these four kings have in common?

First, they were influenced by Athaliah.

Second, they were wicked kings who served idols.

Third, they did not die of natural causes.

Ahaziah

Ahaziah’s father was King Joram of southern Judah, and his mother was Athaliah from northern Israel.

His mother Athaliah worshipped idols back in northern Israel. When she married Ahaziah’s father, she moved to the southern kingdom, and brought her idols with her. And so Ahaziah’s parents were idolaters.

2 Chronicles 22:2–4 ESV

Ahaziah was twenty-two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Athaliah, the granddaughter of Omri. He also walked in the ways of the house of Ahab, for his mother was his counselor in doing wickedly. He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, as the house of Ahab had done. For after the death of his father they were his counselors, to his undoing.

What we see here is that Ahaziah listens to the house of Ahab. That’s his mother’s side of the family. Ahab here is the most evil king of northern Israel who led the people in idol worship. And this young king Ahaziah, 22 years old, takes advice from his mother’s side of the family.

But he dies only after reigning for one year.

One day, he goes to visit his uncle Joram, the king of northern Israel. And this uncle had the same name as his father. They were both called Joram.

Ahaziah and his uncle Joram were allies in the war against Aram. And now Uncle Joram’s injured, so Ahaziah visits him in the hospital. But it just so happens that while Ahaziah’s there, Jehu performs a coup and kills both of them.

Was this a coincidence? That Bible says that God ordained it.

2 Chronicles 22:7 ESV

But it was ordained by God that the downfall of Ahaziah should come about through his going to visit Joram. For when he came there, he went out with Jehoram to meet Jehu the son of Nimshi, whom the Lord had anointed to destroy the house of Ahab.

See what it says here at the end. The Lord had already planned to destroy the house of Ahab. And by choosing to associate with the house of Ahab, Ahaziah joined them in their destruction.

What we see in Ahaziah is a man who loves his family.

I think all of us know what it’s like to love family. But sometimes there’s a condition to being part of the family. And in some cases, especially among certain religious households, believing in Jesus can make your family turn against you.

What we see is that Ahaziah didn’t want to be omitted from his family. And as a result, he was omitted from Jesus’ family.

Matthew 10:37 ESV

Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.

In the end, Ahaziah was evaluted as a wicked king.

Athaliah

Athaliah’s name means “Whom the Lord has afflicted.”

When she heard that her son, Ahaziah, had died in battle, she murders all the royal offspring from the house of Judah (2 Kings 11:1; 2 Chr. 22:10).

2 Kings 11:1 ESV

Now when Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the royal family.

All of Ahaziah’s children were murdered by her except one. Why would she do such a thing? She wanted to make herself the king of Judah. And in order to secure the throne for herself, she had to erase all possible competition.

See, the Bible gives us a clue about the situation at the time. Athaliah wasn’t Joram’s only wife. When God proclaims judgement on Jehoram, He mentions his wives in the plural.

2 Chronicles 21:14 ESV

behold, the Lord will bring a great plague on your people, your children, your wives, and all your possessions,

So Athaliah was the highest ranking of Joram’s wives, but there would have been other sons who could contest for the throne. And so Athaliah destroys all the competition to secure the throne for herself.

And this wasn’t something unique to Athaliah. Her husband Joram actually did something similar when he became king. He murdered all his brothers.

2 Chronicles 21:4 ESV

When Jehoram had ascended the throne of his father and was established, he killed all his brothers with the sword, and also some of the princes of Israel.

So this husband and wife were like Bonnie and Clyde. They did whatever they had to to secure their power and position.

Ultimately, Athaliah was put to death six years later during the priest Jehoiada’s reformation. And in the end, she was evaluated as an extremely wicked king.

What we see in Athaliah is someone who does what needs to be done to make her dreams come true.

But Satan used her ambition and her dreams as a weapon against God’s work.

God promised David that the Messiah would come through his genealogy. But Athaliah tried to wipe out all the members of David’s bloodline. And if she succeeded, then she would have cut off the road for the Messiah to come.

We all have our own dreams and ambitions. We all have things that we want to do. But Satan can weaponize our bucketlist if we’re not careful. And what do we call it when we choose to fulfill God’s plans instead of chasing our dreams? It’s called sacrifice.

Matthew 10:38 ESV

And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.

Athaliah tried to omit the descendants of David, but she was omitted instead.

Joash

Joash’s name means “The Lord is mighty.”

When Athaliah was going about murdering the royal offspring, God preserved one of Ahaziah’s sons, named Joash.

2 Chronicles 22:11 ESV

But Jehoshabeath, the daughter of the king, took Joash the son of Ahaziah and stole him away from among the king’s sons who were about to be put to death, and she put him and his nurse in a bedroom. Thus Jehoshabeath, the daughter of King Jehoram and wife of Jehoiada the priest, because she was a sister of Ahaziah, hid him from Athaliah, so that she did not put him to death.

This Jehoshabeath is probably Ahaziah’s half sister. Same father, different mother. And she married a priest, so she would have known God’s Word and the plan of redemptive history. She would have known that the Messiah would come through David’s line.

And so when she sees Athaliah killing the royal offspring, she springs into action and risks her life to preserve the line of David. Joash was about 1 year old when this happened.

And six years later, Joash becomes king. He’s about seven years old now, and the priest Jehoiada is his mentor. And while Jehoiada is alive, Joash does a good job of bringing the kingdom of Judah back to God. But after Jehoiada dies, the officials and princes of Judah led Joash astray into idol worship. And so Joash goes in the reverse direction and leads the nation away from God.

2 Chronicles 24:17–18 ESV

Now after the death of Jehoiada the princes of Judah came and paid homage to the king. Then the king listened to them. And they abandoned the house of the Lord, the God of their fathers, and served the Asherim and the idols. And wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem for this guilt of theirs.

Many Christian parents worry for their children’s faith, especially when going to university.

The research organization, Barna, estimated that about 70% of high school students in America who enter college as professing Christians will leave with little to no faith. According to the same research, about 80% of people who grew up in the church will become disengaged by the time they are 29.

Joash shows us what happens when our young people follow their pastors, teachers, and parents, without developing their own personal relationship with God.

*SHOW IMAGE*

After this, Jehoiada’s son Zechariah comes and tries to bring him back to God. But Joash has him stoned to death (2 Chr. 24:20-22). He kills the son of his mentor.

*SHOW IMAGE*

Ultimately, God raised up a small Syrian army to attack Judah. And even though this Syrian army was small and weak, they overpowered the huge army of Judah (2 Chr. 24:23-24).

*SHOW IMAGE*

All the officials of Judah who misled him were killed in battle, and Joash is wounded. He goes back home. And just when he feels safe, his own servants betray and kill him.

As a king, Joash is evaluated as a good king who turned wicked.

What we see in Joash is someone who worships God, but only in a group setting. He didn’t have a personal relationship with God on his own.

Once Jehoiada died, Joash omitted God from his life. And so God omitted him from the genealogy of life.

Amaziah

Amaziah’s name means “The Lord is mighty.”

At the beginning of his reign, Amaziah lives according to God’s Word.

He obeys the law and executes the servants who conspired against his father Joash. And even though he’s tempted to put their children to death too, he obeys God’s command not to put children to death for the sins of their fathers. That’s in Deut. 24:16.

2 Chronicles 25:3–4 ESV

And as soon as the royal power was firmly his, he killed his servants who had struck down the king his father. But he did not put their children to death, according to what is written in the Law, in the Book of Moses, where the Lord commanded, “Fathers shall not die because of their children, nor children die because of their fathers, but each one shall die for his own sin.”

Some time later, he goes out to battle against Mount Seir and the Edomites. And he hires 100,000 soldiers from Ephraim in northern Israel to be a part of his army. God doesn’t like this idea, and sends a prophet to tell him to release the northern soldiers. And even though he probably hates the idea, he tells the 100,000 men to go home. He already paid them 100 talents of silver. That’s 3.4 tonnes.

So Amaziah is actually pretty good at submitting to God’s Word. Even when he makes mistakes, he’s able to repent and do the right thing. Amaziah obeyed God even though it cost him great financial loss.

But after the battle, he does something that makes no sense. Let’s read what happens.

2 Chronicles 25:14 ESV

After Amaziah came from striking down the Edomites, he brought the gods of the men of Seir and set them up as his gods and worshiped them, making offerings to them.

So he defeats the Edomites, but then he brings their idols home and worships them and sacrifices offerings to them.

And God tells him exactly what we’re thinking. Why would you worship the idols who couldn’t protect their own worshippers? But Amaziah refuses to listen.

Why would anyone do this? Here’s how the Bible explains it. It’s at the beginning of his story.

2 Chronicles 25:2 ESV

And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, yet not with a whole heart.

When the Bible says “a whole heart” here, it’s talking about the purity of motivation. So when it says that Amaziah didn’t obey God with a whole heart, this tells us that Amaziah had some selfish motivation, even in his obedience. Unfortunately, this is a common trend in the world today. Many people go about doing a lot of good things, but then they also make sure to post about it on instagram or Facebook.

Now, Amaziah has this huge military victory on the battlefield. He gets recognized. He’s celebrated. And this selfish part inside of him is fed so much that it grows and grows. And it needs more recognition. So what does he do? He challenges northern Israel to a battle.

And the king of northern Israel, Joash, doesn’t want to fight. So he tells him don’t do this. Look at what king Joash says to him.

2 Chronicles 25:19 ESV

You say, ‘See, I have struck down Edom,’ and your heart has lifted you up in boastfulness. But now stay at home. Why should you provoke trouble so that you fall, you and Judah with you?”

In the words of the famous rapper Kendrick Lamar, “Sit down, be humble.”

But Amaziah insists on proving himself, so he gathers his army to fight. And he suffers a terrible defeat. They destroy the wall of Jerusalem from the Ephraim Gate to the Corner Gate. That’s 400 cubits. And they take all the gold and silver and vessels of the templem, and all the treasuries of the king’s house. Everything is taken by northern Israel.

In the end, Amaziah is murdered by his own people. A group of his own people conspired together and killed him.

As a king, Amaziah’s evaluation was good but turned wicked.

What we see in Amaziah is someone who obeyed God, but there was always something in it for him. And so every good work he did was poisoned by a hidden motive, a hidden bit of self-gain.

Conclusion

These four kings show us 4 ways that sin affects our relationship with God.

And even though we are saved by faith in Jesus Christ, we need to actively reflect on our spiritual condition in order to grow in holiness and intimacy with God.

So what are these dynamics of sin?

Ahaziah loved his family more than God.

Athaliah loved her dreams more than God.

Joash didn’t have his own relationship with God.

Amaziah served God only when it served him too.

These sinful attitudes are what hold us back from obeying the most important commandment, to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength.

So let us reflect on our own relationship with God, to see if we have such attitudes. And let us realign ourselves back to God.

And here’s the good news. The Bible says that when we repent, God will omit these sins from our lives in the same way He omitted these kings from the genealogy.

Acts 3:19 ESV

Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out,