TABLE OF NATIONS – CONCLUSION by Dr. Shah, Clearview Church, Henderson, NC
Introduction: As many of you know, after my father became a Christian, his family disowned him. He went from city to city preaching the gospel, and word began to spread about this young Muslim convert who was on fire for Jesus. Someone told a missionary by the name of Dr. Fred Schelander (a bible scholar who revised the Marathi translation of the Bible) about my dad, and he left word for him with a family that my dad would often visit to contact him. Long story short, this missionary sent him to a seminary and then my dad came to pastor a church right next to the mission house where this missionary lived. This developed a close relationship between them, and my dad adopted him as his father and would call him “Daddy.” In fact, when my older brother was born, my parents named him “Fred” after him. I often got puzzled looks when we kids would get introduced – “This is Fred, and this is Abidan…” But, he was the only grandfather I knew growing up. In this final message in our “Table of Nations” series, we’re going to go to the New Testament where we will see a lot of adopted fathers and grandfathers of Jesus. Here’s what we will learn: 1. God’s preserved his people throughout history for the coming of his Son into this world. 2. In the fullness of time, Jesus came as promised and prophesied. 3. He came to restore his people Israel and to save the whole world.
Matthew 1:1 “The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham.”
Luke 3:23 “Now Jesus Himself began His ministry at about thirty years of age, being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph, the son of Heli”
Context: For the past 4 weekends, we studied the genealogies found in Genesis 10 and 11. I emphasized the point that they were given in the field manual (Pentateuch) to the people of Israel as they entered the Promised Land. Among other reasons, a major reason for the genealogies was to establish them as God’s people who had been sovereignly chosen by God to bring the plan of salvation into this world, to bring Jesus, God’s Son into this world. They were to remind each other of that promise. They were to tell the nations around them about that promise. Unfortunately, many times they failed to do that, and God had to discipline them. God sent the wicked nations against them like the Mesopotamians, Moabites, Amalekites, Philistines, the Midianites, and the Ammonites. When the people cried out to him, he sent judges to deliver them (Othniel, Gideon, Samson, etc.). Then came the era of the kings. They jumped the gun and got Saul, who was “a king after their own hearts.” Then, God gave them David, a “man after his own heart,” but he also failed many times. Then came Solomon, who was okay at first, but then he led the people to worship foreign gods and took 700 wives and 300 concubines. After this the kingdom split into the Northern Kingdom (Israel) and Southern Kingdom (Judah). God sent them prophets like Elijah, Elisha, Amos, Jonah, and Hosea to the North, and he sent Obadiah, Joel, Isaiah, Micah, Jeremiah, and others to the South. The wickedness continued, and God sent the Northern Kingdom (10 tribes) into the Assyrian exile, never to return. The Southern Kingdom (Judah) also failed, and God sent them into the Babylonian exile, but he brought them back. Even in exile and after they came back, he sent prophets like Ezekiel, Daniel, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi to help them. He re-established them in the land, and for the next 400 years, they were to prepare themselves for the coming of the Messiah. In all of this, God preserved them.
Application: Can you see God’s hand in preserving Israel? Can you see God’s hand in bringing his plan of salvation into this world? Can you see God’s plan in preserving you?
In today’s message, I want us to turn our attention from the genealogies in Genesis 10and 11 to the genealogies of Jesus in Matthew 1 and Luke 3. They are the proof of the preservation, like a birth certificate. Although there are wonderful truths embedded in both, there are also some apparent problems in them, which have become a sticking point for some. Before we look at them, let me read 2 passages for you from Paul:
- 1 Timothy 1 3 “As I urged you when I went into Macedonia—remain in Ephesus that you may charge some that they teach no other doctrine, 4 nor give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which cause disputes rather than godly edification which is in faith.”
- Titus 3:9 “But avoid foolish disputes, genealogies, contentions, and strivings about the law; for they are unprofitable and useless.”
So, we are going to look at them in this message, but we are not going to get caught up in endless genealogies.
To start with, there are some apparent or seeming problems in the genealogies:
1. Matthew has 41 names, but Luke has 77 names. This is understandable since Luke’s genealogy goes all the way back to Adam, while Matthew goes only to Abraham. Matthew says, “begat,” but Luke says, “son of.”
2. Matthew’s genealogy is divided into three sections:
- Abraham to David
- David to Exile
- Exile to Jesus
Abraham to David is 1000
David to Exile is 400
Exile to Jesus 575
Luke goes all the way back to creation, so 4000 years.
3. Matthew informs us of a pattern.
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.
In tallying the ages, it is more than just 14 generations. Maybe, it is not an exhaustive list but just a highlighted list, to catch the main elements. Several kings are missing in Matthew’s genealogy. So also, some names are also missing from Luke’s genealogy. In fact, compared to 1 Chronicles 3 both Matthew and Luke are different. Maybe, it is even to remove the undesirable names from the list.
Luke doesn’t tell us of a pattern, but some have deduced a pattern of 11×7.
4. Genealogy from David is different between Matthew and Luke.
Matthew 1:6 and Jesse begot David the king. David the king begot Solomon by her who had been the wife of Uriah.
Luke 3:31 the son of Melea, the son of Menan, the son of Mattathah, the son of Nathan, the son of David,
Even though Solomon was the rightful heir to the throne of David, he lived in a way that was displeasing to God. Nathan, on the other hand, was Solomon’s older brother through Bathsheba. Just like his namesake Nathan the prophet, he represented a godly line. Listen to the prophecy of the prophet Zechariah during the Babylonian exile – Zechariah 12 10 “And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn…12 And the land shall mourn, every family by itself: the family of the house of David by itself, and their wives by themselves; the family of the house of Nathan by itself, and their wives by themselves.”
5. Joseph’s father in Matthew is different from his father in Luke.
Matthew 1:16 And Jacob begot Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus who is called Christ.
Luke 3:23 Now Jesus Himself began His ministry at about thirty years of age, being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph, the son of Heli,
Some people try to claim that Luke is giving Jesus’s genealogy through Mary, but the Bible never says that. Both Matthew’s genealogy and Luke’s genealogy are through Joseph. That’s what the text says. Matthew is through Joseph’s mom’s side and Luke is through Joseph’s dad’s side. Joseph was a royalty through and through, but Jesus was not His son. In other words, Jesus was not Joseph’s problem. Now, Joseph had a choice to make. Is he going to listen to what the crowd is saying or is he going to listen to the angel?
What about Romans 1 1 “Paul, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated to the gospel of God 2 which He promised before through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures, 3 concerning His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh.”
Where were Joseph and Mary living when she conceived Jesus through the Holy Spirit? In Nazareth of Galilee in the North. I preached on this couple of years ago. Until the 1800s, people denied that there was any such place called Nazareth in history but then through archaeology scholars found inscriptions about Nazareth. It was a tiny village of maybe 250-300 people who claimed to be descendants of King David. Some of them had priestly lineage. Where did they come up with the name “Nazareth?” It comes from the Hebrew word “Netzer” which means “a shoot.” It’s a reference to Isaiah 11:1 “There shall come forth a shoot from the stem of Jesse…” These people were probably from Bethlehem, the city of David, in Galilee in the South. Why did they move to the North? Maybe because of employment. Maybe because of the Herodians who were crazy to say the least. They had moved up and began this settlement of Nazareth, trying to preserve themselves for the coming of the Son of David, the King of the Jews, the Messiah.
Some important gems in the genealogies:
1. Son of David and Son of Abraham:
Matthew 1 1 The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham:
Matthew wrote to show that he was first for the Jewish people and then as a fulfillment to the promise to Abraham.
2. Son of Adam:
Luke 3:38 the son of Enosh, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.
Luke, being a companion of Paul, wrote to show that he was the New Adam.
Both Matthew and Luke are for the Gentile world as well.
3. Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, and wife of Uriah:
Women, some of undesirable character or family line, are also highlighted in the genealogy.
4. Sacrifice for his brothers:
Matthew 1:2 “Abraham begot Isaac, Isaac begot Jacob, and Jacob begot Judah and his brothers.”
Judah messed up at first, but later he was willing to die for Joseph. Genesis 44 33 Now therefore, please let your servant remain instead of the lad as a slave to my lord, and let the lad go up with his brothers. 34 For how shall I go up to my father if the lad is not with me, lest perhaps I see the evil that would come upon my father?”
Matthew 1:11 “Josiah begot Jeconiah and his brothers about the time they were carried away to Babylon.”
Jeremiah 22 24 “As I live,” says the LORD, “though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, were the signet on My right hand, yet I would pluck you off; 25 and I will give you into the hand of those who seek your life, and into the hand of those whose face you fear—the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and the hand of the Chaldeans.
He could have held out and died with “honor,” but in the process have all his people annihilated. Instead, he surrendered, and the Jewish people lived. He sacrificed himself.
Application: So also, Jesus sacrificed himself for his brothers, the Jewish people, and all his brothers, us. Do you know him? There is no other way. He is One to come. He came. he is coming again. Are you saved?
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