The Ancestry of the King
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Intro:
PBS show Ancestry Roadshow?
Ever since the first man and the first woman that God ever created fell into sin there has been a need for Christmas. Because God is all knowing, He knew of this need even before it arrived and made plans for Christmas to come and prepared the human race for Christmas by telling them throughout history that it would come. [The story is told of a group of applicants waiting to be interviewed for a job as a wireless operator who paid little attention to the sound of the dots and dashes, which began coming over a loud speaker. Suddenly one of them rushed into the employer’s office. Soon he returned smiling. “I got it!” he exclaimed to the other applicants. “How did you get ahead of us?” they asked. “You might have been considered if you hadn’t been so busy talking that you didn’t hear the manager’s coded message,” he replied. “It said, “The man I need must always be on the alert. The first one who interprets this and comes directly into my private office will be hired.””[1]]
That man was alert and heard the sign that lead him to the prize. This morning we want tunnel back into time and look at those passages where God communicated Christmas in bits that we could understand if those who heard them were alert. It is my desire that as we look at these passages our hearts will be prepared to remember the significance of Christmas to our own hearts this year and look in anticipation to the coming of Jesus the Messiah again.
13 Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” And the woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
14 The Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, Cursed are you more than all cattle, And more than every beast of the field; On your belly you will go, And dust you will eat All the days of your life;
15 And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel.”
The first of these passages is the account of the fall of man through our first parents Adam and Eve. After God had confronted them with their sin He said to Eve…[read verses]
This passage speaks of a child that would be born as an offspring of Eve. This is very cryptic and gives no details as to who this child is or when he would be born; all Adam and Eve knew at this point was that a child would be born who would exchange blows with and conquer the spirit behind the serpent. It was enough to begin hope and place the seed of redemption into the minds of the whole human race.
Adam lived for 930 years and passed on to 8 generations after him the hope of Eve’s seed that would come. That left only 126 years between the death of Adam and the birth of Noah. Noah would have heard the story from the lips of men like Adam’s son Seth and Seth’s great, great, great grandson Enoch, and Enoch’s son Methuselah. Noah would have told his son Shem who was still living when Abram was born. Imagine Abram sitting on Great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great grandpa Shem’s lap and hearing the story about the son who would be born from Eve who would do battle with and rule over Satan the Serpent of old.
Imagine Abram’s surprise when the God of his ancestors spoke to Him and made a promise to bless his offspring.
15 Then God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name.
16 “I will bless her, and indeed I will give you a son by her. Then I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her.”
17 Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed, and said in his heart, “Will a child be born to a man one hundred years old? And will Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?”
18 And Abraham said to God, “Oh that Ishmael might live before You!”
19 But God said, “No, but Sarah your wife will bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac; and I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him.
Abram could have asked, “Could it be that the son that was promised to Eve that grandpa Shem told me about will be born into my family?”
Each of the four Gospels has its own emphasis. Matthew’s book is called, “the Gospel of the King.” It was written primarily for Jewish readers. Mark’s book, the Gospel of the Servant, was written to instruct Roman readers. Luke wrote mainly to the Greeks and presented Christ as the perfect “Son of man.” John’s appeal is universal, and his message was, “This is the Son of God.” No one Gospel is able to tell the whole story as God wants us to see it. But when we put these four Gospel accounts together, we have a composite picture of the person and work of our Lord
Matthew, meaning “gift of the Lord,” was the other name of Levi (9:9), the tax collector who left everything to follow Christ (Lk 5:27, 28). Matthew was one of the 12 apostles (10:3; Mk 3:18; Lk 6:15; Ac 1:13). In his own list of the 12, he explicitly calls himself a “tax collector”
According to tradition, Matthew ministered in Palestine for several years after the Lord’s return to heaven, and then made missionary journeys to the Jews who were dispersed among the Gentiles. His work is associated with Persia, Ethiopia, and Syria, and some traditions associate him with Greece. The New Testament is silent on his life, but this we do know: Wherever the Scriptures travel in this world, the Gospel written by Matthew continues to minister to hearts.
Matthew clearly omitted some names from this genealogy. Probably, he did this to give a systematic summary of three periods in Israel’s history, each with fourteen generations. The numerical value of the Hebrew letters for “David” equals fourteen
Matthew 1:1–17 (NASB95)
1. Jewish Ancestry
1 The record of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham:
2 Abraham was the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers.
Only the fourth son of Jacob is here named, as it was from his loins that Messiah was to spring
Later Isaac’s son Jacob, blessed his sons under the direction of God and further clarified from whose family the promised child would come.
10 “The scepter shall not depart from Judah, Nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, Until Shiloh comes, And to him shall be the obedience of the peoples.
Shiloh is not necessarily a name or title but simply means “to whom it belongs.” So until to whom the rulers staff belongs comes, Judah will rule the family of Israel, and another piece of the Christmas mystery was laid.
3 Judah was the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, Perez was the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Ram.
4 Ram was the father of Amminadab, Amminadab the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon the father of Salmon.
Matthew 1:5
5 Salmon was the father of Boaz by Rahab, Boaz was the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse.
matthew 1 6
6 Jesse was the father of David the king. David was the father of Solomon by Bathsheba who had been the wife of Uriah.
1. Jewish Ancestry
2. Royal Ancestry
6 Jesse was the father of David the king. David was the father of Solomon by Bathsheba who had been the wife of Uriah.
After David who was of the lineage of Judah became king, the God who spoke to Eve in the garden further refined His promise through the prophet Jeremiah.
5 “Behold, the days are coming,” declares the Lord, “When I will raise up for David a righteous Branch; And He will reign as king and act wisely And do justice and righteousness in the land.
Showing that the promised king would be a son of David.
7 Solomon was the father of Rehoboam, Rehoboam the father of Abijah, and Abijah the father of Asa.
8 Asa was the father of Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat the father of Joram, and Joram the father of Uzziah.
1:8 Joram the father of Uzziah. Cf. 1Ch 3:10–12. Matthew skips over Ahaziah, Joash, and Amaziah, going directly from Joram to Uzziah (Azariah)—using a kind of genealogical shorthand. He seems to do this intentionally in order to make a symmetrical 3-fold division in v. 17.
9 Uzziah was the father of Jotham, Jotham the father of Ahaz, and Ahaz the father of Hezekiah.
Matthew 1:10
10 Hezekiah was the father of Manasseh, Manasseh the father of Amon, and Amon the father of Josiah.
11 Josiah became the father of Jeconiah and his brothers, at the time of the deportation to Babylon.
1:11 Josiah became the father of Jeconiah. Again, Matthew skips a generation between Josiah and Jeconiah (cf. 1Ch 3:14–16). Jeconiah is also called Jehoiachin (2Ki 24:6; 2Ch 36:8) and sometimes Coniah (Jer 22:24). Jeconiah’s presence in this genealogy presents an interesting dilemma. A curse on him forbade any of his descendants from the throne of David forever
30 “Thus says the Lord, ‘Write this man down childless, A man who will not prosper in his days; For no man of his descendants will prosper Sitting on the throne of David Or ruling again in Judah.’ ”
Since Jesus was heir through Joseph to the royal line of descent, but not an actual son of Joseph and thus not a physical descendant through this line, the curse bypassed him. Mary was a descendant of another son named Nathan.
1. Jewish Ancestry
2. Royal Ancestry
3. Remaining Ancestry
12 After the deportation to Babylon: Jeconiah became the father of Shealtiel, and Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel.
1:12 Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel. See 1Ch 3:17–19, where Zerubbabel is said to be the offspring of Pedaiah, Shealtiel’s brother. Elsewhere in the OT, Zerubbabel is always called the son of Shealtiel (e.g., Hag 1:1; Ezr 3:2; Ne 12:1). Possibly Shealtiel adopted his nephew (see note on Hag 2:23). Zerubbabel is the last character in Matthew’s list who appears in any of the OT genealogies.
13 Zerubbabel was the father of Abihud, Abihud the father of Eliakim, and Eliakim the father of Azor.
Matthew 1:14
14 Azor was the father of Zadok, Zadok the father of Achim, and Achim the father of Eliud.
Matthew 1:15
15 Eliud was the father of Eleazar, Eleazar the father of Matthan, and Matthan the father of Jacob.
Matthew 1:16
16 Jacob was the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, by whom Jesus was born, who is called the Messiah.
Whom- feminine referring to Mary.
17 So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; from David to the deportation to Babylon, fourteen generations; and from the deportation to Babylon to the Messiah, fourteen generations.
25 “So you are to know and discern that from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince there will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; it will be built again, with plaza and moat, even in times of distress.
From here God begins to really zero in on this promised king, this chosen one, this Messiah/Christ. In
Dan. 9:25 we find one of the most amazing statements of the Scripture because of its accuracy. “So you are to know and discern that from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince there will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; it will be built again, with plaza and moat, even in times of distress. 7 + 62 = 69 weeks. The word weeks is actually just the word sevens so we would read that there will be 7 sevens and 62 sevens for a total of 69 sevens. What are these weeks or sevens? They are periods of seven years, so 69 sevens are 69 periods of seven years for a total of 483 years. Are you following me? I hope so because the amazing part is that the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem was issued on March 14, 445 BC by King Artaxerxes I. On April 6, 32 AD, Jesus Christ entered Jerusalem on a donkey in what we call the triumphal entry in which the nation of Israel officially rejected Jesus as the true Messiah. That is exactly 483 Jewish ceremonial years after Artaxerxes decree. Though this wouldn’t have given the date of the Messiah’s birth, it certainly should have put them in the ball park of + or – 30 years.
6 For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.
7 There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, On the throne of David and over his kingdom, To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness From then on and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will accomplish this.
Now that they knew approximately when the Messiah was to be born, then Isaiah tells who the Messiah will be when he reports in Isaiah 9:6-7, “For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; and the government will rest on His shoulders; and His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness from then on and forevermore.” In Old Testament thinking, the name that a person is called indicates the character that they possess. So according to His name, people will recognize that this child is no ordinary man. Here His character includes “Wonderful Counselor” the wisdom to counsel all our troubles, “Mighty God” the power to rule as God because He is God, “Eternal Father” the love a father that has existed for eternity, and “Prince of Peace” the ability to administer peace. In other words He will be the perfect ruler.
14 “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel.
But this must have troubled the God fearing Jews, how can someone who has existed for eternity be born into the human race, and why was the promise originally to be of the seed of the woman and not the man? God answers those questions in Isaiah 7:14 by telling how the Messiah is to be born, “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel.” This also sheds light upon the character of this Messiah child. His name is to be called Immanuel, which means “God with us.”
We shall be the memory of our posterity. We are here for a limited time. We have only this moment to make a difference.
Grace is not hereditary. You do not inherit the spiritual condition of your parents. Godly parents does not guarantee godly children. Wild parents do not keep you from salvation.
2 “But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Too little to be among the clans of Judah, From you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from long ago, From the days of eternity.”
We know who the promised child is going to be, we know how He will be born and even the time period that He will be born, but the last piece of the Christmas mystery is given in Micah 5:2. God tells the Israelites where this Messiah will be born as well as giving insight into His origin, “But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from long ago, from the days of eternity.” This Messiah is no ordinary man, but He has existed before He was to be born.
Many Godly Jews were looking for the Messiah to be born but few were ready for Him when He came. Today the Jews still look for the Messiah to come and He will come because the mystery of Christmas is not over yet. He came the first time to suffer and die for the sins of those He created, but He is coming again and when He does, He will not come a baby in a manger but as the conquering King over Satan. Satan has bruised Him on the heel but Jesus the Christ will crush Him on the head. Revelation 19:11-20:3; 20:7-10. That is what we eagerly wait for, the coming again of our Messiah. His story is as old as the human race. He came the first time just like it was foretold, are you ready for Him to come again? [Around the dial of a clock in a church in Strasburg, Germany, are these words: “One of these hours the Lord is coming.”[2]] This Christmas may we remember the Jesus that was born in a Manger, but may we also not forget the Jesus that is coming again as King of Kings and Lord of Lords! Look with anticipation for Him this Christmas and pray with the Apostle John in Revelation 22:20, “He who testifies to these things says, ‘Surely I am coming quickly.’ Amen. Even so come, Lord Jesus!”