Jesus’ Ancestral Lineage

Matthew 1:1-17

 1 -- "The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham."
 2 -- "Abraham begot Isaac, Isaac begot Jacob, and Jacob begot Judah and his brothers."
 3 -- "Judah begot Perez and Zerah by Tamar, Perez begot Hezron, and Hezron begot Ram."
 4 -- "Ram begot Amminadab, Amminadab begot Nashon, and Nashon begot Salmon."
 5 -- "Salmon begot Boaz by Rahab, Boaz begot Obed by Ruth, Obed begot Jesse,"
 6 -- "and Jesse begot David the king.
         David the king begot Solomon by her who had been the wife of Uriah."
 7 -- "Solomon begot Rehoboam, Rehoboam begot Abijah, and Abijah begot Asa,"
 8 -- "Asa begot Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat begot Joram, and Joram begot Uzziah."
 9 -- "Uzziah begot Jotham, Jotham begot Ahaz, and Ahaz begot Hezekiah."
10 -- "Hezekiah begot Manasseh, Manasseh begot Amon, and Amon begot Josiah."
11 -- "Josiah begot Jeconiah and his brothers about the time they were carried away to Babylon."
12 -- "And after they were brought to Babylon, Jeconiah begot Shealtiel, and Shealtiel begot Zerubbabel."
13 -- "Zerubbabel begot Abiud, Abiud begot Eliakim, and Eliakim begot Azor."
14 -- "Azor begot Zadok, Zadok begot Achim, and Achim begot Eliud."
15 -- "Eliud begot Eleazar, Eleazar begot Matthan, and Matthan begot Jacob."
16 -- "And Jacob begot Joseph,  the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus who is called Christ."
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."

Rightly Dividing the Word of Truth . . .

Here, in the first chapter of Matthew, we are presented the ancestral lineage of Joseph–husband of Mary, the mother of Jesus. This lineage is inclusive back to Abraham in three sets of fourteen generations. The first set presents the line from Abraham to king David. The second set includes those generations from king David to the capture by Babylon, and the third set presents those from Babylon to Jesus.

It is interesting that there are fourteen generations between each division. When we look at Mary’s ancestry (below), we see that the lineage from Adam to Abraham is twenty-one generations–another multiple of seven. This first phase is the pre-Jewish lineage when God dealt with and communicated directly to the heads of family and with prophets. He chose each of these for specific reasons. This process was continued to some degree during the fourteen generations spanning Abraham to king David. He also chose specific leaders–such as Moses and Aaron, then Joshua, followed by the judges–to replay details of the law to His people and to lead them through certain trials.

When king David was a young lad, God’s people had become disgruntled with the ‘leader’ format. They had been clamoring for a king. Finally, God granted their request, and king Saul was appointed the first king. David was chosen as Saul’s successor. Thus, we complete the first fourteen generations and move into the second set when God communicated to His people through the kings and the prophets. This form of leadership was dismantled when they were carried away to Babylon.

The final set of fourteen generations, which takes us to the birth of Jesus, covers the first Jewish dispersion during which about five million Jews were deported to Babylon and then began to spread over Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. There are those who believe some were also able to inhabit the Americas, intermarrying with the natives in the western hemisphere. This final phase before Christ’s birth leads to the end of the Old Covenant and the beginning of the New Covenant. During this time, God’s people were under the direction of kings and other leaders of each country in which they resided. Each phase is governed very differently from the phase before and after. This shows us when the Old Covenant ended, a new phase began. The Old Covenant is no longer in effect.

Galatians 3:22-26

22 -- "But the Scripture has confined all under sin, that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe."
23 -- "But before faith came, we were kept under guard by the law, kept for the faith which would afterward be revealed."
24 -- "Therefore, the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith."
25 -- "But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor."
26 -- "For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus."

Notes on Scripture, cont.: by tkbrown

The original King James Version of the Holy Bible used the word ‘schoolmaster’ where the word ‘tutor’ is used in the New King James Version. God has done everything, including the divisions of time and leadership, to lead us to the New Covenant. At the instant Christ died on the cross, the veil was rent twain (torn into two pieces–top to bottom) between the outer tabernacle and the most holy of holies where the Ark of the Covenant was kept (and where God resided in the tabernacle). At that instant, the Old Covenant officially ended, and the New Covenant began.

We notice in Mary’s ancestral lineage, below, it goes all the way back to Adam. This too is done with purpose, for we see “God begot Adam” (v. 38). Thus, we are told, God is the Father of mankind. When He created Adam, He created mankind. We also see, in Luke 3:23, that Joseph–husband of Mary–was ‘the supposed father’ of Jesus. In actuality, he was the ‘step-father’ or ‘legal father’ of Jesus. God was Jesus’ father.

Under the Old Covenant, God dealt almost completely with the men. Very few women are exemplified. We are introduced to Eve, Ruth, Esther, Deborah and a few others, but mostly men are introduced. In the New Covenant, women are exemplified in much larger number, and women determine their own salvation through obedience of Christ’s commands. No individual can obey Christ’s commands for another person. That decision is strictly the choice of each.

That each set of generations presents with a different form of leadership is no accicent. The fact that they, and the period from Adam to Abraham, are all divisible by seven alludes to God’s use of numbers throughout the Bible. When a specific day was given in the Old Covenant to observe a specific feast or sacrifice, it was to be done on ‘that day,’ not another day of His people’s choosing. The same holds true under the New Covenant. There are those who say the Scriptures contradict themselves. If one takes the time to ‘rightly divide the Word’ there is no contradiction.

I hope these two genealogies now present as much more interesting and with much more meaning for application today. I pray that these lessons are beginning to clarify the meaning of ‘rightly dividing the Word of Truth.’ The next lesson will cover Satan’s temptation of Christ in the Wilderness. I invite you back for another morsel of nutrition from God’s Word.

Luke 3:23-38

23 -- "Now Jesus Himself began His ministry at about thirty years of age, being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph, the son of Heli,"
24 -- "the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, the son of Melchi, the son of Janna, the son of Joseph,"
25 -- "the son of Mattathiah, the son of Amos, the son of Nahum, the son of Esli, the son of Naggai,"
26 -- "the son of Maath, the son of Mattathiah, the son of Semei, the son of Joseph, the son of Judah,"
27 -- "the son of Joannas, the son of Rhesa, the son of Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, the son of Neri,"
28 -- "the son of Melchi, the son of Addi, the son of Cosam, the son of Elmodam, the son of Er,"
29 -- "the son of Jose, the son of Eliezer, the son of Jorim, the son of Matthat, the son of Levi,"
30 -- "the son of Simeon, the son of Judah, the son of Joseph, the son of Johan, the son of Eliakim,"
31 -- "the son of Melea, the son of Menan, the son of Mattathah, the son of Nathan, the son of David,"
32 -- "the son of Jesse, the son of Obed, the son of Boaz, the son of Salmon, the son of Nahshon,"
33 -- "the son of Amminadab, the son of Ram, the son of Hezron, the son of Perez, the son of Judah,"
34 -- "the son of Jacob, the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham, the son of Terah, the son of Nahor,
35 -- "the son of Serug, the son of Reu, the son of Peleg, the son of Eber, the son of Shelah"
36 -- "the son of Cainan, the son of Arphaxad, the son of Shem, the son of Noah, the son of Lamech,"
37 -- "the son of Methuselah, the son of Enoch the son of Jared, the son of Mahalalel, the son of Cainan,"
38 -- "the son of Enosh, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God."

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Lesson One -- Scripture:  Zacharias to have Son . . .
Lesson Two -- Scripture:  Jesus' Birth Foretold . . .
Lesson Three -- Scripture:  Zacharias' son, John, is born . . .
Lesson Four -- Scripture:  Jesus Is Born . . .
Lesson Five -- Scripture:  And Jesus Grew . . .
Lesson Six -- Scripture:  John Begins His Ministry . . . 
Lesson Seven -- Scripture:  Jesus is Introduced to the World . . .
Lesson Eight -- Scripture:  Jesus' Ancestral Lineage

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