Tuesday: Jesus’ Early Family Tree
Beyond David, who else do we find in Jesus’ family tree? Matt. 1:2-3.
Women weren’t even typically listed in genealogies; so, why would a woman named Tamar be listed here? Who was she to begin with?
Image © Kim Justinen from GoodSalt.com
Tamar was a Canaanite woman who had been married sequentially to two sons of Judah. Both of these sons died in wickedness while Tamar was childless. Her father-in-law, Judah, promised Tamar that he would give her his third son in marriage when the son got old enough. But this never happened.
So, what did Tamar do? She disguised herself as a prostitute and got together with none other than Judah, who had no idea it was Tamar. Months later, when Tamar’s pregnancy became evident, Judah took action to have the immoral Tamar put to death; that is, until Tamar revealed to Judah that he was the father of her baby.
However much this might sound like a tawdry soap opera, it’s still part of the human ancestry of Jesus.
Read Matthew 1:4-5. Who else is listed that is somewhat surprising?
Rahab, the Canaanite prostitute? Apparently so. After helping to protect the Israelite spies in Canaan, she joined the people of God and, it seems, married into the ancestry of Jesus.
Who else was in the line? Matt. 1:5-6.
Ruth was a virtuous woman but, through no fault of her own, she came from the hated Moabites—the product of an incestuous relationship between a drunken Lot and one of his daughters. Uriah’s wife, Bathsheba, was, of course, the woman that King David selfishly summoned while her husband Uriah was out in battle. David, too, was a sinner needing a Savior. David had many outstanding qualities, but he was no model of a family man, to be sure.
| If God receives us despite our faults and shortcomings, how can we learn to do the same with others, despite their faults and shortcomings? |
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Many Christians, like myself, identify with different people in the Bible. When I read the human ancestry of Jesus I'm so reassured of His full understanding of me and His wonderful grace that even when I feel the most sinful and unworthy I can still go to Him in repentance and know He will lift me up again. As a woman I love the genealogy of Jesus Matthew recorded and I love the Holy Spirit who led him to write it.
I thank God that he judges me on what I desire in my heart and not how I appear to the outside world. I pray that we all strife to be part of God's kingdom with a sincere desire to do His will. Even though we do not always succeed in doing the right thing, we are assured to know our God is graceous to forgive us of our sins.
My questions is we know God doesn't want his people to marry a woman more than one,why God was quiet and make connection with prostitute in the tree of Jesus list? As we learned about Tamar in the list of Jesus who was prostitute,also there's Ruth who comes from hated tribal more over we have King David who took Uria's wife while Uria was in the battle,why now days Christian they abuse people like that instead of loving them?
George, I believe the Desire of Ages makes clear why the Bible is sharing the type of people who were in Jesus' lineage. "It would have been an almost infinite humiliation for the Son of God to take man's nature, even when Adam stood in his innocence in Eden. But Jesus accepted humanity when the race had been weakened by four thousand years of sin. Like every child of Adam He accepted the results of the working of the great law of heredity. What these results were is shown in the history of His earthly ancestors. He came with such a heredity to share our sorrows and temptations, and to give us the example of a sinless life." -Desire of Ages, Page 48
Remember not only does Jesus have prostitutes in his background but He also calls all humanity his brothers and sisters, including prostitutes. He came into our family to saves us and transform us from darkness into His very image.
Interesting comment William, and well said. My thought to add would be this, who is really the worst sinner: a heathen prostitute, a psalm-writing/singing king "after God's own heart" who forgets the law of God toward the wife of his neighbor, whom he later had killed to cover his crime, or Eve, in the perfection of Eden "stealing" from the forbidden tree?
According to the law, none are worse in the eyes of God, which means none of us are better. We are told "the wages of (any) sin is death...". What we see in Jesus' family tree is a long list of sinners, all who chose to sin.
Doesn't this make Jesus' example for us to follow not only relevant, but possible?!! IF we follow wherever He leads, and exercise the faith in Him that He demonstrated in His life toward His Father in perfect submission to His Father's will.
This Grace allowed even that adulterous, murdering king to become a Son of God again, along with the heathen prostitute and the fruit-stealing woman who was clothed in the light of heaven even as she took the fruit, who soon was banned from that glorious garden clothed in skins, though justified and knowing one day she will enter that garden once more, never to be banned from it again. Every sinner can be made like Jesus through faith.
Robert, I agree that through His grace, God can transform any sinner into a faithful child of God. And that is indeed Good News that is confirmed by Jeffrey's story. 🙂
However, I wonder if you could elaborate on this statement for which I can find no evidence, "According to the law, none are worse in the eyes of God, which means none of us are better." (Since we're reading the Old Testament through right now, we've run across many references of some kings being "worse" and others being "better." I assume the same would apply to ordinary sinners.)
Inge, it goes without saying that the sadistic mass murderer is more wicked than the Christian who cheats the IRS over $5.00 in the eyes of everyone, including the IRS, but will either one gain eternal life without repentance? Or better yet, can either one gain eternal life through faith in Christ? Is victory possible for both?
There is no partiality with God concerning sin, whether it be taking fruit from the wrong tree or killing millions out of sheer hatred. We're not discussing degrees of unacceptability, which exists, were talking final verdict in the judgment for life or death.
What sin is "acceptable" to God, for which He will allow entrance into eternal life? I believe that was my obvious point when I wrote "the wages of (any) sin is death".
Robert I'm wondering if you might have confused Inge by inadvertently mixing two concepts in your statement. You wrote, ["According to the law, none are worse in the eyes of God, which means none of us are better. We are told "the wages of (any) sin is death...". What we see in Jesus' family tree is a long list of sinners, all who chose to sin."] Your insertion of the word "any" in parentheses, I believe, is central to the confusion. Scripture teaches that Adam's transgression is viewed differently by God from the rest of ours (Rom 5:14), so the insertion of "any" is a significant change in the contextual use of the original text (Rom 6:23). It is important that we not forget that "death" IS the wage of ONE man's sin--Adam (Rom 5:12; 1 Cor 15:22, 49). It is this "death" that makes none "worse in the eyes of God, which means none of us are better" because it is also this "death" that is the source of ALL human sin.
God was explicit in His communication with the parents of humanity when He declared "...in THE DAY you eat of it you shall SURELY die"(Gen 2:17). We tend to think and speak of that "death" as the physical death all humans presently experience, but not so. Adam's conscious transgression of his Creator's command very effectively terminated his oneness with his Creator (Gen 2:19; 3:10). His choice has become the reality of the specie intended by the Creator to be Earth's caretakers (Gen 1:28), such that all humanity has lost the capability for oneness with Earth's Owner--that is the "death" of Rom 6:23 (2 Cor 1:9) and we don't individually chose that. However, Scripture teaches a worsening of the condition with each individual's manifestation of that "death" (Eph 4:22; Rom 6:19). Individual acts of sin are not so much the problem from God's viewpoint, as is our lack of oneness with Him. You and I might prefer someone stealing from our fruit tree than seducing and impregnating our wives then planning our death, but ALL acts of sin are sourced in our lack of oneness with God which is the workings of our minds (Rom 8:6-8) chosen for us in Adam's transgression. David, under inspiration, understood his condition and appealed to his Creator for a new, clean "heart"(Ps 51:10) reminding us of the second, and better, half of Rom 6:23 that there is "life" after "death"!(Jn 10:10; 11:25)
Lynrol, I can't tell if you agree or disagree. I see elements of both possibilities in your comment.
Any sin will forfeit eternal life. Correct? That sin's magnitude does not bring a different outcome with the two choices we all face between eternal life and eternal death. Only those who keep the commandments(by faith) will have right to the tree of life. No one else.
Unless they repent.
The discussion I was intending was not about the definition of sin and then it's symptoms, or which is "worse", but the fact that any of it's symptoms forfeits eternal life, since it is works that will be judged. Works reveal motives, which reveals character, which reveals oneness with God or the lack.
Jesus human lineage was made up of all sinners. None were free of sin, though many achieved victory over it through faith.
Robert, if the question you're asking is, "will any (ACT of) sin (minute, medium or gross) forfeit eternal life?", my basic answer would be that God is the ultimate judge of that (Rom 14:4) (if I didn't restate your question correctly, please correct me).
However, I've experienced within myself and observed in others over many years, believers' uncertainty on the matter of human choice with respect to righteousness and "wrongteousness". I've come to the conclusion that I'm better off believing what Scripture declares over mine or any human ideas, which involves asking God my hard questions and waiting for His response (Heb 11:6). I agree with your statement, "According to the law, none are worse in the eyes of God, which means none of us are better.", because I believe Scripture declares that all humans come into the world dead on arrival (Rom 5:12; Gen 6:5-6; Rom 3:9-11). Clearly though, that truth does not release us from the purpose for which all humans are created (Gen 1:26,28; 2:15; Eze 18:4). Why is that? God's love has been extended to fallen man from the first day of his "death" (Gen 3:21; Isaiah 53:6; Mt 18:12; Rom 5:18,21).
I'm not sure exactly how to respond to what you wrote here, ["The discussion I was intending was not about the definition of sin and then it's symptoms, or which is "worse", but the fact that any of it's symptoms forfeits eternal life, since it is works that will be judged. Works reveal motives, which reveals character, which reveals oneness with God or the lack."] Are you outlining a template for who will be judged as forfeiting eternal life versus who will obtain it? While my present understanding of Scripture is that one can lose God's gift offer (Num 15:29-31; Heb 6:4-6; 10:26,38), I'd advise caution. How would you understand texts such as 1 Jn 2:1; 5:16-17?
Lynrol, I must point out this difference: we are not brought into this world "DOA", until we sin. We are born in a sinful world of sinful parents, but no one is guilty of the sins of another.(Eze 18, Deut 24:16)
Jesus was born as we are, and yet was without sin because He resisted the devil, which we have failed to do, but by God's grace we can. Jesus' death for us will give every soul a fresh start if they "repent and believe the Gospel"(Mark 1:15).
Now some are teaching that we are born justified(universal justification), but we cannot be justified(forgiven) unless we have sinned and repented of that sin(1 Jn 1:9). "Whosoever believeth shall not perish" is the promise, so justification cannot be universal. We must choose it.
We come into this world neutral, until we make a choice.
I believe the answer to your question concerning the passages cited is found in Rom 6:23; 14:23, Ezk 18:4,20, and James 4:17.
Robert, you may differ at your pleasure but your Creator's desire is that you Sabbath in His truth (Isa 58:13-14; Jn 8:31-32). Baby lions and tigers may be cute and "neutral" but we'll only seek out the company of the adults with a rifle in hand or from behind thick plexiglass (they also prefer that plexiglass when armed visitors arriveEmoji). Our opinions won't ever change the Creator's truth (Rom 5:12; 1 Jn 5:19), and not even "good" guys are excluded (Mt 26:34, 75). We are the offsprings of him who would continue to hide from his Creator (Gen 3:10) until our Creator comes and INITIATE change (Gen 3:9, 11;1 Jn 5:20; 1 Pt 2:24-25).
You wrote, ["Jesus was born as we are, and yet was without sin because He resisted the devil, which we have failed to do, but by God's grace we can."] Jesus was not "born as we are." We are the descendants of Adam who had no parents but God. Jesus identified with fallen humanity by being born from a sinful woman who became willing to be subordinated to her Creator's will (Lk 1:38) and was parented by a "father" of like mind (Mt 1:20). Jesus thus became the Ancestor of all who would believe, modeled in the method of His conception (Lk 1:35; Jn 3:6-7; Rom 8:9-10; Gal 4:19). Christ became our spotless (Jn 8:29) Lamb of God not only because he was CONCEIVED by the Holy Spirit but also lived (Acts 10:38; Lk 4:18) GUIDED by His Father's Spirit (Rom 8:14). Were it not for God's ministry, no human would or could ever "choose" God (Rom 2:4; Jn 16:7-9; Eph 2:8) because of the nature we inherited in Adam's choice (Gen 3:8, 10). That is Scripture's revelation of humanity's primary problem, only made right in Christ (Jn 12:31-33).
George, God's law condemns sin. Everyone born of Adam and Eve has chosen to sin except Jesus. God will not justify any except those who repent of sin and live obediently by faith. His grace makes that possible. I think William's reply tells us why this lineage is brought out, and it was Matthew's purpose to prove that Jesus was in fact a true son of David as prophecy said He would be. We could look at this list as an affidavit of Jesus' lineage.
To answer your question of "why", Christians don't abuse other sinners, but seek to save them. There are some who call themselves "christian" who are unchrist-like, but they are not true witnesses of Christ are they? Only those who seek to save are His. However, they will, like Jesus, warn others of the wages of sin being death.
It truly is reassuring to know that God looks at the heart and not the circumstance.
We all can be a part of His family by just believing and trusting in Him.
God has a perfect goal for everyone and He works through every circumstance in our lives to help us to become perfect, to reach the goal, that He has for us. God's goal for us is a christian life here and now and eternal life when Jesus comes to take us home to heaven.
Good Morning George, some Christians forget that Jesus did not come to earth to condemn but to save and those people that society has deemed unworthy are the very one's that are in need of saving. That is why Jesus himself saved the prostitute from being stoned to death, "he who is without sin cast the first stone." You see, no matter what the severity of sin to Jesus it is all sin just the same and He despises any and all sin equally.
Nathaniel, it was the law given from Sinai that condemned the adulterous woman to stoning. Jesus did not save her from being stoned by excusing her sin, but by upholding the law He gave through Moses, which states only the husband could bring an adulterous wife to be judged along with the other guilty person. She was brought alone and not by her husband. Also, Jesus could not lawfully condemn her in either those circumstances, or through the fact He was not an eye-witness to her crime. He never said she wasn't guilty, but that He could not condemn her and since there were no accusers left, she was free to go. Still, He warned her to "go and sin no more". Ellen states that she then fell at His feet, confessed and became one of His closest disciples for the remainder of her life.
She could only find forgiveness through confession and repentance, which she did in response to the goodness of God revealed in Jesus towards her(Rom 2:4).
It is true that Jesus said, He came not into the world to condemn the world, but that the world but that the world might be saved. (John 3:17
But I believe you will be hard pressed to find biblical evidence to support the statement that "to Jesus it is all sin just the same and He despises any and all sin equally."
The courts of our lands recognize the difference between stealing a loaf of bread and murdering one's neighbor. Should we accuse God of not recognizing the difference?
The idea that all sins are of equal magnitude seems to have come from non-Christian sources. Jesus does not teach this. Consider that Jesus mentions "greater sin" in John 19:11. The concept of lesser and greater sins is also taught in the parable of the two debtors (Luke 7:41-43), and degrees of punishment is taught in the parable of the two slaves (Luke 12:47-48).
The misrepresentations of God's character in this teaching has practical effects in life. It is thus that young people can feel that if they "lust" (which is sin), they might as well fornicate. Or if one steals a pen from the office, he might as well embezzle $10,000, as long as he can get away with it.
While it is true that any sin, no matter how small, persistently indulged, will eventually neutralize all the power of the gospel, I believe that it is equally true that there are degrees of sin in the sight of God as well as man.
God has a way of working through the unexpected and seemingly impossible in the affairs of men, to accomplish His grand purpose, that of saving the lost human race. How and why God does what He does will take us an eternity to study and understand - that is the reason He is "immortal, invisible, God only wise". What the brightest human mind cannot grasp , God sees from beginning to end. In His infinite wisdom God ordained the very family lineage through whom Jesus would come in the likeness of men in the fullness of time so that when the prophesies came to pass, there would be no doubt about the accuracy and power of His Word.
As we see in this study of Matthew, some very unlikely women stem from the family tree of the Messiah. If it were left to the will of sinful men, Rahab the prositute, Ruth the Moabitess, Tamar who played the harlot and Bathsheba the adulteress would not stand a chance. Besides, Mary, of the scorned city of Nazareth, the one chosen by God to give birth to the Redeemer (Luke 1:26-32), would not likely be the one by the standards "leaders" of her day. In His mercy God, looked beyond the past, the baggage and circumstances of these women and masterfully crafted and fulfilled His ultimate purpose through them. Unfathomable!!
Whereas we don't get to choose the families in which we are born, Jesus chose to be son of humble parents (though they were of royal lineage of David), from the worst city of the day, of which it was said "can anything good come out of Nazareth?" (John 1:46), to be born in the least desirable circumstances, in a stall filled with animals.
This is encouraging that "God is no respecter of persons" (Acts 10:34), but that He desires that every man be given the opportunity to be part and parcel of His Kingdom of Grace that we can all share in His Kingdom of Glory. That's what God led Peter to do for Cornelius.
If God did that for all of us it simply means we are in no position to condemn anyone whom God has blessed and delivered from the jaws of sin despite their sordid pasts. Instead our duty is to encourage and love even those who have been to the gutters and help pull them up with cords of God's love, just as we ourselves have been rescued. Thank God for sending Jesus, His only Son to save you, me and the whole world (John 3:16).
If any little word of mine
May make a dark life brighter,
If any little song of mine
May make a sad heart lighter.
Chorus:
God help me speak the helping word
And sweeten it with singing,
And drop it in some lonely vale
To set the echoes ringing.
Joseph no doubt played a key and important role in Jesus life. The genealogy of Christ (seems) to be on Mary's side being that she was with child and espoused to Joseph. Joseph was not with Mary, "for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost". In the book of The Desire Of Ages, chapter title "Unto You a Savior", it reads "She is of the lineage of David, and the Son of David must be born in David's city." Thank God for the gift of Sister White writings..
Jesus' genealogy were humans with all of the foibles yet potentials, of everyday people. God worked through them to bring about His salvation. There is no pattern of righteousness in the lineage of Jesus. We find adulterers,harlots, heroes, and Gentiles. God was working throughout the generations, both good and evil to bring his purposes. Matthew shows that God can use anyone to bring about his purposes. These are the very type of people Jesus came to save
I'm so glad that Jesus loved me enough to die for me no matter what my sin. He purposely came through a lineage of people that we would consider the wost kind in society. Murderers, prostitutes, incestuous women, drunks, you name it, everyone that society holds in disdain is there. I truly believe that this was intentional and that the Holy Sprint inspired Matthew to write it.
I feel that it would be unfair of us to make Tamar into more of a villain than Judah himself. Judah was by far the greater offender, and in the end he confesses that "she [Tamar] hath been more righteous than I..." (Gen 38:26 KJV).
The story of Tamar might be briefly told thus:
Judah (while still a very young man,) leaves his family and chooses a Canaanite woman for his wife. Then, when his first-born son (Er) is old enough, Judah chooses a wife for him. (This chosen woman was Tamar.) Er was a terrible husband to her; he was "wicked in the sight of the Lord" and Er died as a result of his wickedness. (Gen 38:7.)
After the death of his first-born son, Judah tells his next son (Onan) to marry his widowed daughter-in-law. Onan is begrudgingly obedient, but he uses a form of birth control to deny Tamar any children. Onan's actions results in his death too. (Gen 38:10)
Judah has a third, young, son, and he promises Tamar that the boy will be 'reserved' for her, but Judah is dishonest in his pledge, and sends Tamar away to her father's house. (Effectively to get rid of her, since Judah now blames Tamar for his family's run of 'bad luck'. (38:11).) But the disasters were to be traced back to him - NOT to Tamar. And life was hard for widows without children in those days!
It was Judah's neglect [his deliberate neglect,] that pushed Tamar into temptation. Now it happens that Judah's wife died, and when his period of mourning is over, Tamar hears that he is traveling to a place to shear his sheep. She waits at a spot where she knows he will pass. (Perhaps it has occurred to her that Judah's now grown-up third son, might be traveling with his father too.)
She presents herself as a veiled prostitute, and Judah approaches her. (It appears that her promised third husband is not there.) But Judah has nothing with which to pay for her services, so Tamar obtains a pledge of payment in the form of his signet, bracelets, and staff. The "transaction" is made (and Tamar is pregnant). Judah later sends his friend to pay the "harlot", but she can't be found, and Judah decides that it is best for the woman to keep his signet, etc., "lest we be shamed" (38:23).
Other matters ensue, but Judah comes to the point of declaring, "She hath been more righteous than I; because that I gave her not to Shelah my son." (Gen 38:26 KJV)
Before long, Tamar gives birth to twins: Pharez and Zarah. These two are the progenitors of the greatest part of the tribe of Judah. The family of Pharez, in particular, was known for its fertility and for its multitude. (Ruth 4:12.) And it was through Pharez that the line of descent comes, which ends in the appearance of the Messiah. (Matt 1:3.)