The Family of God

Genealogies

If you are one who reads through the Bible with any regularity, you will come upon passages of Scripture that contain many names. Often these names are listed in such a way to show a family tree. We call this a genealogy. Perhaps you have had the thought when arriving to such a text to move past it without giving it much attention. Between the difficulty of pronouncing the names and the seemingly irrelevancy of the long list of people, you may think, I can give myself a pass on this one and move on. Something to know about genealogies however, is that while the names are often difficult to pronounce, the names connect us to history, and in the cases of biblical genealogies, they connect us to important moments in redemptive history.

The sermon text today is Matthew 1:1-17, which is Matthew’s genealogy of Jesus. Matthew’s genealogy is particularly helpful in that it provides clear historical time-markers. As we will see in that text, Matthew records clear points of transition, development and historical movements that help us see what led to the birth of our Savior into the world.

One such a development is an unhappy one, but important to our understanding of redemptive history and the Messiah’s family tree. Matthew 1:11 refers to this point in Israel’s history as the time of the deportation to Babylon. The Babylonian captivity. And one of the names mentioned Jechoniah who was a wicked king of Judah just like his father Jehoiakim. Jechoniah, like his father before him was a bad king because he rejected God. He ruled in such a way that displayed his disobedience and rebellion against Yahweh, and it was this and the people’s rebellion that ultimately led to the Lord’s judgement upon them.

As we will see in the text from Jeremiah’s prophecy, the Lord did not ignore or excuse the evil deeds of the rulers or the people, but in His mercy He declared that He would gather a remnant from His flock and would provide shepherds who would care for them. And church, what we need to know is that the Righteous Branch from David’s line came from such a family tree. one mixed with righteousness and wickedness. No one could ever nor will ever be able to thwart the plans of God. He demonstrated this through the birth of Jesus and continues to show this until He comes again.

Let’s consider some of this colorful family tree by going to

Jeremiah 22:11–23:8 ESV

11 For thus says the Lord concerning Shallum the son of Josiah, king of Judah, who reigned instead of Josiah his father, and who went away from this place: “He shall return here no more, 12 but in the place where they have carried him captive, there shall he die, and he shall never see this land again.” 13 “Woe to him who builds his house by unrighteousness, and his upper rooms by injustice, who makes his neighbor serve him for nothing and does not give him his wages, 14 who says, ‘I will build myself a great house with spacious upper rooms,’ who cuts out windows for it, paneling it with cedar and painting it with vermilion. 15 Do you think you are a king because you compete in cedar? Did not your father eat and drink and do justice and righteousness? Then it was well with him. 16 He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then it was well. Is not this to know me? declares the Lord. 17 But you have eyes and heart only for your dishonest gain, for shedding innocent blood, and for practicing oppression and violence.” 18 Therefore thus says the Lord concerning Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah: “They shall not lament for him, saying, ‘Ah, my brother!’ or ‘Ah, sister!’ They shall not lament for him, saying, ‘Ah, lord!’ or ‘Ah, his majesty!’ 19 With the burial of a donkey he shall be buried, dragged and dumped beyond the gates of Jerusalem.” 20 “Go up to Lebanon, and cry out, and lift up your voice in Bashan; cry out from Abarim, for all your lovers are destroyed. 21 I spoke to you in your prosperity, but you said, ‘I will not listen.’ This has been your way from your youth, that you have not obeyed my voice. 22 The wind shall shepherd all your shepherds, and your lovers shall go into captivity; then you will be ashamed and confounded because of all your evil. 23 O inhabitant of Lebanon, nested among the cedars, how you will be pitied when pangs come upon you, pain as of a woman in labor!” 24 “As I live, declares the Lord, though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, were the signet ring on my right hand, yet I would tear you off 25 and give you into the hand of those who seek your life, into the hand of those of whom you are afraid, even into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and into the hand of the Chaldeans. 26 I will hurl you and the mother who bore you into another country, where you were not born, and there you shall die. 27 But to the land to which they will long to return, there they shall not return.” 28 Is this man Coniah a despised, broken pot, a vessel no one cares for? Why are he and his children hurled and cast into a land that they do not know? 29 O land, land, land, hear the word of the Lord! 30 Thus says the Lord: “Write this man down as childless, a man who shall not succeed in his days, for none of his offspring shall succeed in sitting on the throne of David and ruling again in Judah.” 1 “Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture!” declares the Lord. 2 Therefore thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning the shepherds who care for my people: “You have scattered my flock and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them. Behold, I will attend to you for your evil deeds, declares the Lord. 3 Then I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, and they shall be fruitful and multiply. 4 I will set shepherds over them who will care for them, and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall any be missing, declares the Lord. 5 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. 6 In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: ‘The Lord is our righteousness.’ 7 “Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when they shall no longer say, ‘As the Lord lives who brought up the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt,’ 8 but ‘As the Lord lives who brought up and led the offspring of the house of Israel out of the north country and out of all the countries where he had driven them.’ Then they shall dwell in their own land.”