WWUTT 092 Misfits In the Genealogy (Matthew 1:3-6)

The people mentioned in the genealogy of Christ were not perfect. That genealogy is full of prostitutes, adulterers, liars, pagans.

It's just not the style of royal perfection you'd have expected to bring about the king of kings and lord of lords.

But it's through this group of ragtags and misfits that God shows us once again how He takes what is called foolish by the world's standards and displays

His ever -loving wisdom and grace when we understand the text. You're listening to When We Understand The Text, an online

Bible ministry committed to teaching sound doctrine and exposing the faulty. Find videos and more at our website www .tt

.com. Now here's our host, Pastor Gabe Hughes. Thank you, Becky. This week we're examining the genealogy of Christ as presented in Matthew 1, 1 -17.

Yesterday we looked at verses 1 and 2. Today we'll be looking at verse 3 and read to the connection with King David in verse 6.

If you want to open your Bible and join with me there. You know, something that's been going on all this month, and the month is half over and I've yet to mention it, my book is on sale.

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Yesterday when we were looking at the genealogy of Christ, we observed the connection between Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Judah.

The Hebrews were called Hebrews because they were descended from Abraham. They were called Israelites because they were descended from Jacob, whose name was also

Israel. And they were called Jews because they were descended from Judah. And so was Christ.

Jesus fulfilled all of the prophecy of lineage and became true Israel. Now all who are in Christ are the people of God.

It is through Christ we are his people, rescued from slavery to sin and set free by his grace.

And now we wear his name. As it says in Ephesians 3 .15, it is after the

Father that every family in heaven and on earth is named. We wear that name as adopted sons and daughters because we have received the inheritance of Christ Jesus.

That's for all who are in Christ. So I want to appeal to you. If you do not know

Christ, you do not know God as your heavenly Father, you are still outside of his family, and the inheritance of his eternal kingdom does not belong to you.

The Father you are named after is the devil. As Jesus says in John 8 .44,

we're going to talk about this some more a little later on in the lesson. If you do not repent of your sin and follow

Christ, then at the end of your life, you will be sent to the place prepared for your Father and his demons, a place of fire and brimstone.

If in listening to the words of the Scriptures, you hear the voice of the Holy Spirit beckoning you out of darkness and into the light of Christ Jesus, I appeal to you, leave your life of sinfulness.

Repent. Turn from it. Don't walk in it anymore. Instead, be a follower of Jesus.

The road is long and hard. I won't sugarcoat it for you, but it is worth it, for it is the road that leads to eternal life.

The name you will wear is the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus, every knee will bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is

Lord, to the glory of God the Father. This is the season of lights.

We are reminded of the light of Christ. As we observe Christmas lights and we talk about the

Magi following a light, you also must see the light of Christ as illuminated through his word.

Repent of your sin and follow Jesus. Matthew 1, verses 1 -6.

The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, and Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, and Perez the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Ram, or Ram is another way to pronounce that, and Ram the father of Amenadab, and Amenadab the father of Nashon, and Nashon the father of Salmon, and Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab, and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of David the king.

Our God, as we come to these scriptures today, I pray that by your spirit, you are illuminating these things to us, and showing us just how truly fascinating it is, the sovereign plan, and the predestined work that was going on even before this genealogy was laid out.

You already knew the plan that was revealed to us at a later time, revealed to the saints in Christ Jesus.

So I pray that as your saints, we find a wonderful treasure in these words, in even a genealogy, as we study this even further today, and it is in Jesus' name that we pray.

Amen. So again, yesterday we talked about Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Judah, and his brothers, and now verse 3,

Judah the father of Perez, and Zerah by Tamar. In the middle of the story of Joseph in the book of Genesis, chapter 38, you can turn with me there if you want to,

I'm going to give you kind of a summary of the entire chapter, the story that's there in Genesis 38. It's a strange and rather dark tangent in the story of Joseph.

Judah had three sons with a Canaanite woman. He married her in secret, most likely because his parents would have strongly disapproved.

Marriage to Canaanites is never applauded in the scripture. So Judah had like this second life with this other woman in another town.

And the oldest of the sons that were born to him was named Er, and he found for Er a wife named

Tamar. But God killed Er because he was wicked. So Judah gave Tamar to Er's brother,

Onan, and told Onan to do his duty and sleep with her so that a son would be conceived to carry on the lineage of his deceased brother.

However, Onan didn't want to give Tamar a son that would not bear his own name. So he spilled his seed on the ground, an act that to this day is referred to as Onanism.

And this was wicked in the eyes of God, and so he killed Onan. And at that point,

Judah didn't want to give Tamar to his youngest son because he thought he'd lose him too. So instead, he told Tamar to remain a widow until his youngest was old enough.

And that probably meant until he grew up enough to not get struck down in wickedness. It's not like Judah's sons had the greatest example in their dad either.

So what ended up happening, and again, this is a pretty messed up story. It's like something that you would have seen on Jerry Springer.

Is his show still on? I don't even know. But anyway, Judah's Canaanite wife died, and after a period of mourning, he went up to Timnah.

Tamar was told that her father -in -law was going there, and so she took off her widow's garments and put on a veil to go and meet him.

Her intention was to confront Judah and say, Hey, you need to fulfill your promise to me and give me to your youngest son because he's all grown up now.

However, what happened was that Judah saw her on the side of the road and thought she was a prostitute.

And he couldn't see her face because she was wearing a veil. So he could only see her eyes, and there's actually kind of an irony in the story because Timnah means eyes.

And so he only spoke to Tamar, having identified her eyes and did not know that it was

Tamar. And he asked her if he could have her as a prostitute, and she made a deal with him and made him give her the emblem that he wore and his staff, both of which would have been identifying items that were unique to Judah.

So Judah slept with her and she conceived twins. When it was reported to Judah that his daughter -in -law was with child and yet still unmarried, he ordered to have her burned.

But Tamar produced his insignia and his staff and said, It's by the man who owns these things that I am pregnant.

And so Judah relented, but he never went to her again. So when Tamar was giving birth, one of the twins stuck out his hand and the midwife tied a scarlet thread on his hand saying,

This is the one that came out first. But then he pulled his hand back and his brother came out and his name became

Perez, which means breach. And then his brother came out with the scarlet thread and his name was

Zerah. And so it was from the line of Perez that the Messiah would be born. Perez was a child conceived in a very immoral way.

In fact, when you look through the genealogy, you see a mix of adulterers and prostitutes, in addition to kings and heroes,

Jews and Gentiles. The point that Matthew means to make is that this Jesus would be the savior of all, regardless of ethnicity or social standing.

He was not born in a line of perfect people. He was born in a line of ragtags and misfits.

Now Tamar is also the first woman mentioned in the genealogy. There are five altogether.

In addition to Tamar, there was Rahab, which we've read about today in these first six verses. And Rahab was another prostitute.

There was Ruth, who was a Gentile. Bathsheba, with whom David had an affair.

And Mary, who was favored by God. Descent was almost exclusively traced through the men, and women were not mentioned in most genealogies, or at least not given any mention of importance.

So for Matthew to include the women showed how God used both men and women to accomplish

His will of bringing salvation to all mankind. The reason why our culture today considers men and women of equal importance and equal social standing is because of the

Christian ethic. Nothing in the world or in all of human history has been more influential than Christianity on equalizing men and women.

In a great deal of the world today, women are still considered subservient to the men, and there's been no greater impact on a culture drawing women up to a level of influence as instrumental as men than the idea that God has made them both in His image, and they both receive equal treasure in the kingdom of God.

Now, a secular humanist would freak to hear me say that statement. To them, I would say, and I have said, the reason why you think women deserve equality is because you're borrowing from the

Christian ethic. It's not a social ethic, and it's certainly not a natural ethic.

Nature does not extend equality to the sexes. Men in general will always be physically dominant.

That's not a sexist comment. It simply is. Christopher Hitchens, a world -renowned atheist, was panned for making a similar comment.

He was not a Christian, and it was simply the observation of nature. He said women are the weaker vessels.

A man needs to put away his pride and his narcissism and hold the door open for a woman and let her have equal opportunity in exercising her gifts.

Now, where this concept tends to get off is when we start giving women positions that they were not meant to have.

The position of pastor in a church, for example. That is a position that is not permissible for a woman to have.

And we read in Isaiah 3 .12 that when women and infants rule the men, that's actually the judgment of God.

Men are called to lead. They are to set the example. But one of those examples is treating women as they would want to be treated.

For us as Christians, it is knowing that men and women share together equally in the inheritance of Christ.

Now, this understanding would have reshaped the mind of Matthew also.

I don't think when Matthew first answered Jesus' invitation to leave his tax collection table and follow him that Matthew thought of women as equally important.

When it comes to a Christian understanding of a number of ethical issues, there are things that we mature in as we grow in knowledge and understanding of Christ.

They don't just pop into our heads when we become a Christian. So Matthew probably held the familiar Jewish notion of women being subservient.

For example, a woman's testimony was not considered valid in court. They had to go to the back of the bus, so to speak, and let the men have the place that they felt like they were entitled to.

So what would have changed Matthew's mind? It would have been the example that he saw in Christ.

Jesus first revealed himself as the Messiah to a Samaritan woman of questionable character.

The first to have witnessed the empty tomb after his resurrection were the women. There were women present in the upper room on the day of Pentecost.

Jesus included the women as instrumental in the spread of the gospel and the testimony of what was witnessed during his earthly ministry.

And there were influential women in that first coming of Christ as well in the Advent. Now, Matthew not only mentions women in the genealogy, but all five women are of questionable character, including

Mary. Remember, to a Jew who did not believe Jesus Christ as Lord.

They did not understand the prophecy that was made in Isaiah that the virgin would be with child, that she would conceive of the

Holy Spirit. A Jew who did not receive Christ as Lord, they saw

Mary as having conceived a child with another man who was not her husband. Jesus was considered an illegitimate child in the eyes of the

Jews. In Mark 6, 3, when the Jews called him the son of Mary, that was an insult since Joseph was not his biological father.

And that was known among the Jews. In John 8, some of the Jews were arguing with Jesus and they said,

Abraham is our father. And Jesus said to them, If you were Abraham's children, you would be doing the works that Abraham did.

But now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. This is not how

Abraham acted. And what Jesus communicates to them is that their father is the devil because the works that they were doing reflected

Satan's character, not God's. And their reply in verse 41,

John 8, 41 was this. We were not born of sexual immorality. We have one father, even

God. And when they said we were not born of sexual immorality, when they said we have one father, even

God, they were calling Jesus a bastard. Didn't your mom conceive you from another man who wasn't

Joseph? So you have a biological dad and you have your stepdad. Well, we're not in immorality like you are.

We have one father, even God. This was the way that the people reacted to Jesus, not believing in him as the

Christ who was sent by God. Even Mary in Matthew's genealogy was to the

Jews of questionable character. Again, it's a genealogy full of ragtags and misfits.

It is not the perfect lineage that you would expect to see for a perfect Messiah.

But as we read in 1 Corinthians 1, 27 -31,

God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise. God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong.

God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.

And because of him, you are in Christ Jesus. Because of God, you are in Christ.

Not because of anything you did, but because of God. Christ became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, let the one who boasts, boast in the

Lord. It is God who has saved us, not our heritage, not our lineage, not who we were born to, but who we are born again by.

And that is Jesus Christ. And now it is by Christ that that lineage, that genealogy is perfected.

It is by Christ that we've been adopted into the family of God. And now we wear the name of our

Father in Heaven. God regularly, routinely taking those things that are despised in the world and showing his wisdom and mighty power through those things.

We see that even in the Christmas story, when the first witnesses to the birth of Christ were shepherds.

And there were out in the field shepherds keeping watch over their flock by night, when suddenly an angel of the

Lord appeared before them, and they were greatly afraid. But the angel said to them, Fear not, for I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all people.

For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you.

You will find the baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger. Now the birth of Christ wasn't the sign.

A Savior has been born. It is what it is. The sign was that they would find the baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.

Why was that significant? Well, first of all, the angel was saying, You'll know the Savior when you see him. He'll be the only baby lying in an animal's feed trough.

But this was a sign to the shepherds in another way. See, a shepherd was a very marginalized occupation.

People just didn't associate with shepherds. They lived with their sheep. They were dirty. They smelled bad. Shepherds had a very low standing in society.

But here was this Christ child who had been placed in a manger. He's sleeping where the animals sleep.

To a shepherd, this would have meant he's one of us. We don't have to go tromping through someone's home where we wouldn't be welcome anyway.

We can go right to the place where the Savior is sleeping and see the Messiah for ourselves. As the

Lord said in Isaiah 66, My favor is upon those who are humble and contrite in spirit and who trembles at my word.

That pretty well identifies a group of meek shepherds to whom the angels appeared, doesn't it? They went to the

Savior and praised the Lord when they found him just as the angel said. Humble witnesses to the good news of Jesus Christ when we understand the text.

And that concludes our lesson for today. I promise we will get through this genealogy this week.

Join me again tomorrow as we jump into the next portion. And don't forget our Christmas What Videos.

You can find it on our website, www .utt .com, including the book, 40 of the Most Popular Bible Verses and What They Really Mean, on sale now for 20 % off.

www .utt .com. God bless. Thank you for listening to When We Understand the

Text. Pastor Gabe is the author of the book, 40 of the Most Popular Bible Verses and What They Really Mean.

Available in paperback or for your Kindle. He's also authored a Bible study through the book of 1

Corinthians. Both books can be found at our website at www .utt .com.