The Tainted Genealogy

Good Morning. What a journey it has been. We started with the book of Judges, worked our way through Ruth and are now looking at the book of Matthew. Along the way, I hope you have seen the power, love and mercy of the God we serve. Our theme this year was Choose Christ or have Chaos. Choose Christ or Have Chaos. we live in a chaotic world.

One of our goals as Pastors was to draw your attention to God in the midst of this chaotic world. Turn on the news and we see the horrible things humans do to one another and we are reminded and bombarded with the unrest of this world. Going through Judges makes sense. They too lived in a chaotic world, civil unrest, infighting among their own nation, blatant disobedience against God and people claiming to be men of God who were really self serving and destroying the lives of those to whom they were supposed to minister. That was not a fun time in Israel’s history.

It’s a reminder that we cannot put our hope in people to make our lives better. We cannot, as humans, drag ourselves out of the depths of sin that we find ourselves in as a nation. Just like the nation of Israel, we need a savior to rescue us from the mire that our stupid choices go us into and only God can send that judge or that deliverer. Our hope never has been nor ever will be in politics or national reform. Our hope is only in God.

We took a breather from the heaviness of Judges. That book continued to get worse and ended very atrociously. So we took a deliberate pause to look at Ruth. While the book starts out with bad decisions being made and a woman who looks disparagingly at her life and God, has another young woman who, having also lost her husband and was left destitute, chooses to stay with her and chase after God. This was to remind ourselves that there were good people during this time who Chose Christ, who chose God and were greatly blessed for it. This story ends with a beautiful redemption and a continued promise of a deliverer who would come from this faith filled couple.

In some ways it was like we got a large overview of the state of disaster that was the nation of Israel. then we zoomed in to one particular moment, one particular story. now we are having to zoom back out and look at the state of the world again. Before we jump into Matthew, I want to remind us of the lessons that apply to us from judges, and I want to give you a brief overview of what happens between Judges and Matthew.

But before I jump into that, let us Pray

Some of the big lessons

Active Obedient Faith must be Properly Placed.

We say we have faith in God, but the question for us was, Is that faith Active, and is it properly placed? Why do we do the good things that we do? is it to feel spiritual? to feel better about ourselves? or is it the natural outflow of a life touched by a mighty God? what truly are we placing our faith in? God, or good works and human decency?

God is the ultimate authority. There is no greater authority than God and thus we do not put our trust in anything but God and his word. this is why your pastors strive to stand here every Sunday and give you the Word of God, not our opinion about the world. God and His word are our ultimate authority.

God’s refining fire demands a response. Our response reveals our relationship.

We all go through trials, hardships, things and events in life that threaten to shake our faith. We are tempted to doubt the goodness of God. We over analyze and begin to take our eyes off of God and try to reclaim our lives. What is our response when God calls us to go through the fire of trial and testing? Do we remind ourselves of the truth of God’s word? Do we remind ourselves that God is good, that He is the ultimate authority, that all things work together for His glory and our betterment? Our response reveals our relationship.

Presuming upon God’s patience invites dangerous exposure. Yes, we serve a merciful God, but this is not license to do as we please. It is not a moment to let down our guard and grow complacent in our walk with Him. The latter judges did this, as did the entire nation of Israel. This lead to their destruction because future generation are watching us. They see us speak “God” on Sundays, then act selfishly on Monday. Others see the hypocrisy and think, “There is no need to fear that God. He’s a pushover.” If others see this, i can guarantee that Satan can too. The Bible tells us that he prowls about seeking whom he may devour. The trials and testings come and we fail.

We should be consistent in our relationship with God. When God shows us mercy, don’t grow complacent. We expose ourselves to the wiles of the devil, and invite tragedy in the lives of those watching us.

These were just a few of the big lessons we covered. These were some of the big things that Israel was supposed to apply to their lives. If we were to continue down their history, They eventually get themselves a king. King Saul is taller than anyone else around and surely height makes for a great king. The taller the better. He failed and the person God intended to be king is crowned in His place. This would be David, the grandson of Ruth. We talked about this and we’ll see thins again in Matthew when we open up there. David made some bad decisions and causes strife in his own family. Solomon, his son, was next. He the wisest king to ever live, but he looses sight of God, marries over 700 wives, has 300 concubines. These wives lead His heart away from God. Look at 1 Kings 11:9-13

1 Kings 11:9 “So the Lord became angry with Solomon, because his heart had turned from the Lord God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice,”

1 Kings 11:10 “and had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods; but he did not keep what the Lord had commanded.”

1 Kings 11:11 “Therefore the Lord said to Solomon, “Because you have done this, and have not kept My covenant and My statutes, which I have commanded you, I will surely tear the kingdom away from you and give it to your servant.”

1 Kings 11:12 “Nevertheless I will not do it in your days, for the sake of your father David; I will tear it out of the hand of your son.”

1 Kings 11:13 “However I will not tear away the whole kingdom; I will give one tribe to your son for the sake of my servant David, and for the sake of Jerusalem which I have chosen.””

God announces to him that because of his wicked deeds, that the kingdom would be severed during the reign of his son.

This happens and there are now two nations, Israel to the north and Judah to the south. The rest of the Kings and Chronicles follows these kings, bouncing back and forth between the southern tribes and the northern ones. All of the kings in the north are wicked and about a two thirds of the kings in the south are wicked. there are very few who follow after God. One of Solomons great great grandsons, Coniah, would be cursed and it is announced that none of His descendants would prosper sitting on the throne of David and ruling anymore in Judah.

Jeremiah 22:30 “Thus says the Lord: ‘Write this man down as childless, A man who shall not prosper in his days; For none of his descendants shall prosper, Sitting on the throne of David, And ruling anymore in Judah.’ ”

They end up, just like they did in the times of the Judges, slaves to surrounding nations. The Greeks, Babylonians, Persians, and eventually the Romans all took part in destroying them as a nation.

They did not choose God and for many generation, they are wrapped in nothing but Chaos. But God has not forgotten His people. He has not forgotten His promise of a deliverer. This is where we begin again in our series, Choose Christ or have Chaos. We have seen God’s jealous wrath, now we will see the other side of this Jealousy, the protective loving side of our Jealous God.

Turn to Matthew 1:1. Matthew 1:1 and will read down through verse 17

Matthew 1:1 “The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham:”

Matthew 1:2 “Abraham begot Isaac, Isaac begot Jacob, and Jacob begot Judah and his brothers.”

Matthew 1:3 “Judah begot Perez and Zerah by Tamar, Perez begot Hezron, and Hezron begot Ram.”

Matthew 1:4 “Ram begot Amminadab, Amminadab begot Nahshon, and Nahshon begot Salmon.”

Matthew 1:5 “Salmon begot Boaz by Rahab, Boaz begot Obed by Ruth, Obed begot Jesse,”

Matthew 1:6 “and Jesse begot David the king. David the king begot Solomon by her who had been the wife of Uriah.”

Matthew 1:7 “Solomon begot Rehoboam, Rehoboam begot Abijah, and Abijah begot Asa.”

Matthew 1:8 “Asa begot Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat begot Joram, and Joram begot Uzziah.”

Matthew 1:9 “Uzziah begot Jotham, Jotham begot Ahaz, and Ahaz begot Hezekiah.”

Matthew 1:10 “Hezekiah begot Manasseh, Manasseh begot Amon, and Amon begot Josiah.”

Matthew 1:11 “Josiah begot Jeconiah and his brothers about the time they were carried away to Babylon.”

Matthew 1:12 “And after they were brought to Babylon, Jeconiah begot Shealtiel, and Shealtiel begot Zerubbabel.”

Matthew 1:13 “Zerubbabel begot Abiud, Abiud begot Eliakim, and Eliakim begot Azor.”

Matthew 1:14 “Azor begot Zadok, Zadok begot Achim, and Achim begot Eliud.”

Matthew 1:15 “Eliud begot Eleazar, Eleazar begot Matthan, and Matthan begot Jacob.”

Matthew 1:16 “And Jacob begot Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus who is called Christ.”

Matthew 1:17 “So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations, from David until the captivity in Babylon are fourteen generations, and from the captivity in Babylon until the Christ are fourteen generations.”

Matthew begins His account of Christ with a genealogy.

If you want to draw in a reader, this is usually not the way to start. Remember in older films when they use to have the actors and producers listed at the beginning of the movie? it sort of feels like that.

A Matthew the Gospel writer production starring Abraham, Then Issac, Then Jacob, Then … and the list goes on until we reach the actual person of interest, Jesus, Born of Mary, who’s husband was Joseph. While a genealogy is exciting to a few nerds like myself, It begs the question, what is so important about a genealogy? Is it simply listing important people so we know where Christ came from? In a small way yes, but there is so much more to it.

I want to draw your attention to a few names listed in this genealogy. We know Abraham, the Father of many nations. Issac is popular, as is Jacob. These names are not uncommon. Every Jewish person’s genealogy began with these three people. Then in verse 3 we see an interesting break in the way Jewish people made their genealogies. See, The Jews were a patriarch society. Knowing who the men were was important because propetry, linage and legacy were passed through the men. So we read in Matthew 3 and ...what? There is a Woman listed!! Gasp! A woman?? No Way! Who is it? TAMAR?? The dark spot in Judah's history?? Is this real? What was the author thinking? You know, I heard through the grapevine that he is autistic that one is!...

but here it is...

Matthew 1:3 “Judah begot Perez and Zerah by Tamar, Perez begot Hezron, and Hezron begot Ram.”

Do we know the story of Tamar? Lets look at Genesis 38. we find this account in Genesis 38, trust me we will not go through every story of every name I choose to look at, but I think this one will be better understood.

Genesis 38:1 “It came to pass at that time that Judah departed from his brothers, and visited a certain Adullamite whose name was Hirah.”

Genesis 38:2 “And Judah saw there a daughter of a certain Canaanite whose name was Shua, and he married her and went in to her.”

Genesis 38:3 “So she conceived and bore a son, and he called his name Er.”

Genesis 38:4 “She conceived again and bore a son, and she called his name Onan.”

Genesis 38:5 “And she conceived yet again and bore a son, and called his name Shelah. He was at Chezib when she bore him.”

Genesis 38:6 “Then Judah took a wife for Er his firstborn, and her name was Tamar.”

Genesis 38:7 “But Er, Judah’s firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord killed him.”

Genesis 38:8 “And Judah said to Onan, “Go in to your brother’s wife and marry her, and raise up an heir to your brother.””

Genesis 38:9 “But Onan knew that the heir would not be his; and it came to pass, when he went in to his brother’s wife, that he emitted on the ground, lest he should give an heir to his brother.”

Genesis 38:10 “And the thing which he did displeased the Lord; therefore He killed him also.”

Genesis 38:11 “Then Judah said to Tamar his daughter-in-law, “Remain a widow in your father’s house till my son Shelah is grown.” For he said, “Lest he also die like his brothers.” And Tamar went and dwelt in her father’s house.”

Genesis 38:12 “Now in the process of time the daughter of Shua, Judah’s wife, died; and Judah was comforted, and went up to his sheepshearers at Timnah, he and his friend Hirah the Adullamite.”

Genesis 38:13 “And it was told Tamar, saying, “Look, your father-in-law is going up to Timnah to shear his sheep.””

Genesis 38:14 “So she took off her widow’s garments, covered herself with a veil and wrapped herself, and sat in an open place which was on the way to Timnah; for she saw that Shelah was grown, and she was not given to him as a wife.”

Genesis 38:15 “When Judah saw her, he thought she was a harlot, because she had covered her face.”

Genesis 38:16 “Then he turned to her by the way, and said, “Please let me come in to you”; for he did not know that she was his daughter-in-law. So she said, “What will you give me, that you may come in to me?””

Genesis 38:17 “And he said, “I will send a young goat from the flock.” So she said, “Will you give me a pledge till you send it?””

Genesis 38:18 “Then he said, “What pledge shall I give you?” So she said, “Your signet and cord, and your staff that is in your hand.” Then he gave them to her, and went in to her, and she conceived by him.”

Genesis 38:19 “So she arose and went away, and laid aside her veil and put on the garments of her widowhood.”

Genesis 38:20 “And Judah sent the young goat by the hand of his friend the Adullamite, to receive his pledge from the woman’s hand, but he did not find her.”

Genesis 38:21 “Then he asked the men of that place, saying, “Where is the harlot who was openly by the roadside?” And they said, “There was no harlot in this place.””

Genesis 38:22 “So he returned to Judah and said, “I cannot find her. Also, the men of the place said there was no harlot in this place.””

Genesis 38:23 “Then Judah said, “Let her take them for herself, lest we be shamed; for I sent this young goat and you have not found her.””

Genesis 38:24 “And it came to pass, about three months after, that Judah was told, saying, “Tamar your daughter-in-law has played the harlot; furthermore she is with child by harlotry.” So Judah said, “Bring her out and let her be burned!””

Genesis 38:25 “When she was brought out, she sent to her father-in-law, saying, “By the man to whom these belong, I am with child.” And she said, “Please determine whose these are—the signet and cord, and staff.””

Genesis 38:26 “So Judah acknowledged them and said, “She has been more righteous than I, because I did not give her to Shelah my son.” And he never knew her again.”

What happened? Well, Judah had 3 sons. The first married Tamar and, because he was wicked, was killed off by God. Judah tells his second to take her as wife. Why? What was supposed to happen here? do we know? Its 2 words...

The Kinsman redeemer. Remember with Ruth, the woman left destitute with no lineage. A close relative was supposed to redeem back her land and linage by giving her a son that was not his own. She needed a redeemer and Judah’s second son was supposed to be that redeemer. He failed and God killed him. Scripture tells us that he knew the son was not going to be his own. The third is too young at the moment, so Judah asks her to wait and she does, waiting for the kinsman redeemer who is never given. Judah essentially forgets about her so she takes matters into her own hands, tricks Judah, who wife has recently passed, gets pregnant by him and waits until word gets around. Judah thinks he has the upper hand until it is revealed that he fathered this child. Judah then acknowledges his failure in verse 26.

Genesis 38:26 “So Judah acknowledged them and said, “She has been more righteous than I, because I did not give her to Shelah my son.” And he never knew her again.”

A dark spot in the lineage yet here she is listed in the genealogy of Christ. Lets look down a little further.

Two verses later we come across another anomaly.

Matthew 1:5 “Salmon begot Boaz by Rahab, Boaz begot Obed by Ruth, Obed begot Jesse,”

Unlike Tamar, Rahab did not pretend to be a harlot, she was a well known harlot. A harlot who chose to fear god and protect the spies who came into Jerusalem. God blessed her for that choice and she, not just a social outsider but nationally an outsider as well is brought into the nation of Israel. Here she is listed in the lineage of Christ. We know her son Boaz. Because of him we have yet another anomaly, Ruth. Ruth is an outsider brought into the nation through a kinsman redeemer. what a beautiful picture of the grace of God. One was a a widow in need of a kinsman redeemer. Another was an outsider who chose to follow God. Ruth is both. And here she is in the linage of Christ.

Later we see Bathsheeba, and while she was not listed by name as the others were, but the grace in the life of a young woman who was raped by the king of Israel and her husband killed to cover it up. God showed Grace in her life and she is the mother of King Solomon.

Solomons line is followed until we get to Joseph, who married Mary, the mother of Jesus. what is wrong with Solomons line? Remember

Jeremiah 22:30 “Thus says the Lord: ‘Write this man down as childless, A man who shall not prosper in his days; For none of his descendants shall prosper, Sitting on the throne of David, And ruling anymore in Judah.’ ””

There is a curse in the line. How can this be? lets take a moment and pop over to Luke’s account of Christs genealogy. Luke 3.

For sake of time we will not read through the whole genealogy.

Luke 3:30 “the son of Simeon, the son of Judah, the son of Joseph, the son of Jonan, the son of Eliakim,”

Luke 3:31 “the son of Melea, the son of Menan, the son of Mattathah, the son of Nathan, the son of David,”

This was Mary’s family line. Mary was a direct descendant of David through Solomons brother Nathan.

So why begin with a genealogy? It’s more than just seeing where someone came from. There is history with each name and with each name is a unfolding story of the grace of God.

Matthew understands this grace. Matthew himself was a man who needed this grace. Matthew writes out a tainted genealogy because, in the eyes of the Jews, He himself was a tainted man. By the way, I do not believe he was Autistic, that was an artistic choice made by the movie writers.

Matthew was a Tax collector, also know by the name Levi. Being a tax collector, he was considered a traitor to the Jewish people because he worked for Rome taking money away from the Jewish people. Tax collectors were also knows thieves, taking more money from the people than they should and keeping a portion of it and was seen in Zacchaeus's case.

Yet Matthew was one of Jesus’s Disciples. Some say he was martyred in Africa, others near Modern day Turkey, but either way He would die for the Gospel of Christ. He wrote this gospel a couple of decades after Christ walked on the earth, but before the destruction of the temple in 70ad. Other Gospels seem to point out the Matthew was selected as a disciple after all the others and was not around during the very early parts of Christs ministry. This is backed up in that Matthew does not mention Christs first miracle, turning water into wine, nor does he list the other disciples being called other than Peter, James, John and Andrew. But Matthew had an understanding of the Jewish mindset and purposefully wrote in a way that grabbed the attention of his audience.

As we take you through Matthew, you will see that these key features highlighted throughout the book. He will use two phrases over and over, the first being: “...This was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet...” Matthew is going to connect Christ to OT prophecies many many time throughout the book. If you doubt that Christ was the promised messiah, Take a look at Matthew.

The second is phrase is: “The Kingdom of God” we will see these phrases throughout the book of Matthew.

Matthew was not a popular guy. Yet His account to the Jewish people painted Jesus as the King of Kings, the King of the Jews, The promised King that would deliver His people. He was know as the tax collector, the traitor and he took that opportunity to tell those very people, I served the wrong king for years and now I serve the Only King, The Promised King. His meticulous notes and accounts connect over and over, The King was prophesied of over and over and over again and He fulfilled that which was predicted. the overarching theme that you will see in Matthew is:

God’s promised Deliverer brings our deliverance and drives our destiny.

God’s promised Deliverer brings our deliverance and drives our destiny.

Jesus is King and His kingdom is sure. While he was on the earth he preached “Repent, for the Kingdom of God is at hand!”

Later he would lament over Jerusalem as he stated I would have taken you under my wing but you were not ready. Taken you under my wing, does this sound familiar? It is the picture painted by Boaz taking Ruth under his wing like a kinsman redeemer. Christ was their redeemer and yet they were not ready.

Why the tainted genealogy? Because When you choose God, God radically changes your life. When you choose Christ, God will do a work in you that will that will radically change your life and the lives of everyone around you.

Look again at that tainted genealogy. Tamar, a woman in need of the Kinsman redeemer who knew that the things being done to her were not right, who chose to pursue that which was promised to her by God, even when man failed. Rahab, a harlot, a social outcast, who chose to follow after God an throw herself at the mercy of an invading army. Ruth another outsider who needed a kinsman redeemer who threw herself submissively at the feet of the one who could provide that and embraced the protection of his outstretched wing.

The genealogy is a list of people who failed and turned to God in their time of need and embraced the promise of a redeemer who would come. This was different than the nation at the time who was still trying to make themselves perfect before God and missed the Redeemer and to this day are still looking for the promised messiah. Israel needed to change and they were trying to do it in their own strength. They did not understand that without God, you cannot change to His will, you can’t be law-abiding enough, you can’t will yourself to be holy, this is a change only God can make and for hundreds of years they missed this. They tithed on mint and cumin, missing the point of the Law. From the time of the Judges until Christ steps on the scene they want change their own way.

What about you? Are you willing to embrace God and allow Him to radically change your life? When you choose God and truly surrender to His power and let go of your self , your legalism, your self centered identity, and focus only on God, God will radically change you life. Do you trust God to make the changes in your life that you need to be brought closer to Him?

Men, do you want to see change happen in your family? Do you want to build a God honoring marriage with your spouse? Do you want to see God transform the lives of your kids? then turn to God and fully embrace Him.

Woman, do you want to see God do a mighty work in your Husband, raise Children who love and honor God and are not swayed by this world? Then let go of the legalism that this world tells you is a good wife and mother and turn fully to God and allow Him to change you.

Young person, are you willing to choose God and let him radically change you? You might be thinking, I have done things in life that are so bad, you don’t know my life. I’ve been a drunk, I've done drugs, I’ve had relations outside the bounds of marriage, I am too far gone to restore, My marriage is too far gone to be healed. Let me tall you friend,

God took a Harlot and placed her in the linage of Christ. God took and destitute outsider and gave her a redeemer. God took a broken line and cursed line and graciously restored it through both Mary and Joseph, keeping His promises because He is good. Good took and cheating tax collector and used him to pen the Gospel of Christ. God radically changed tainted people. are you willing to let go of your pride and allow God to radically change you. God is a God of radical transformation. Choose Christ and be changed for His glory!