King of Nations

The Coming Kingdom: Matthew 1.1-17 (3)

Pray Psalm 132.8-10.
Arise, O LORD, to Your resting place,
You and the ark of Your strength.
Let Your priests be clothed with righteousness,
And let Your saints shout for joy.
For Your servant David’s sake,
Do not turn away the face of Your Anointed.

Sing Psalm 132.8-10.
(Finlandia: Be Still, My Soul)
Arise, O LORD, come to Your resting place; 
Your holy Presence meet with us in might. 
Clothe us with righteousness in Jesus’ grace, 
and we will shout to Your divine delight!
For David’s sake, turn not away Your face, 
but look upon us in Your holy light.

Read Matthew 1.1-17; meditate on verses 3-6.
What stands out in this part of Jesus’ genealogy?

Prepare.
1. Three women are mentioned here. Can you name them?

2. What is unique about at least three of the women?

Meditate.
This genealogy contains the names of three women—Tamar (v. 3), Rahab (v. 5), and Ruth (v. 5)—and the suggestion of a fourth (Bathsheba). Three of these women were Gentiles, and Bathsheba may have been as well, since she was the wife of a Hittite. 

By incorporating these women into the genealogy of Jesus—a departure from standard genealogical practice, which typically traced lineages through men only—Matthew planted two seeds that would grow from Jesus’ ministry: the incorporation of Gentiles into the covenant as co-heirs of the promises of Abraham (cf. Rom. 4.16-18); and the establishing of women as equal heirs with men of that which Jesus accomplished (cf. Gal. 3.7-9, 26-29). Here, right at the beginning of his gospel, Matthew threw wide the door of God’s promises and Kingdom to welcome those who for centuries had been regarded as second-class citizens. Reading these verses would have popped the self-important balloons of Jews and caused the hearts of women and Gentiles to leap for joy.

In these verses Matthew also signaled that his gospel would rely extensively on the Old Testament, although not without comment and clarification. Verses 3-6 are an exact quote of Ruth 4.18-22, with the exception that Matthew inserted the names of Rahab and Ruth, because he understood the implications of Immanuel’s coming, and he wanted to prepare his readers from the beginning for the broad scope of the Good News he would report. We recall that, at the end of Matthew’s gospel, Jesus commissioned women and men to make all the nations disciples (Matt. 28.18-20). 

Here is the seed that sprouted to bloom in the Great Commission and has been bearing fruit for 2,000 years.

Treasure Old and New: Matthew 13.52; Psalm 119.162
People today go to Ancestry.com to find out if there were any notable folks in their lineage; as if somehow—famous or infamous—that has a bearing upon who they are now.

In the genealogy that is given for Christ Jesus—The King of Nations—we find a huge selection of every kind of person under the sun. In these three mentioned women’s lives there are stories galore.

Tamar, the mother of the twins Perez and Zerah, was the daughter-in-law of Judah. He had married a Canaanite woman who bore him three sons—Er, Onan, and Shelah. “Then Judah took a wife for Er his firstborn, and her name was Tamar. But Er was wicked in the sight of the LORD, and the LORD killed him.” Then Onan was to marry her, but for selfish reasons, did not impregnate her, which displeased the LORD, so He killed him, too. Then Judah told Tamar to wait for Shelah to grow up, then he would marry her. But Judah changed his mind, reneging on his promise. Then Judah’s wife died. So, then Judah went looking for sex and found a woman by the side of the road who he thought was a prostitute. Nope. It was Tamar, come to trick him. When will men ever learn? So then before they had sex she asked for payment and settled for his signet ring, cord, and walking staff. She became pregnant. Judah, outraged over Tamar’s lax morals, finally realized he was the father. Oops. Then repentant, he opined, “She has been more righteous than I, because I did not give her to Shelah my son” (see the full story in Gen. 38.1-30).

Next up, Rahab. It was time for the children of Israel to go into the Promised Land, therefore Joshua sent out two men to secretly spy out the area, “especially Jericho. So they went, and came to the house of a harlot named Rahab, and lodged there” (Josh. 2.1). Rahab hid them, kept them safe, lied for them, and extracted a promise from them of safety for her and her family upon the conquest of her city. “And Joshua spared Rahab the harlot, her father’s household, and all that she had. So she dwells in Israel to this day, because she hid the messengers whom Joshua sent to spy out Jericho” (Josh. 6.25).

Finally, Ruth. She was a Moabitess who married a son of Elimelech and Naomi, both of whom had fled, with their two sons, from Bethlehem, Judah, to Moab. Naomi’s husband and two sons died, leaving her with two daughters-in-law. One stayed in Moab, the other, Ruth, followed her back to the land of Judah. While there, faithfully caring for Naomi, she met and married Boaz, a distant relative of Naomi. It was there that she gave birth to Obed. The beautiful blessing that the multitude wished upon Boaz and Ruth is memorable. Here is a portion of it: “May your house be like the house of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah, because of the offspring which the LORD will give you from this young woman” (Ruth 4.12). “Obed begot Jesse, and Jesse begot David the king” (Ruth 4.22; Matt. 1.5, 6).

Tamar, although more righteous than Judah, was a bit sketch in her methods.
Rahab, who we can assume was either an official harlot, or an innkeeper “harlot”, 
was nonetheless known as harlot.
And Ruth, was a widow who had a successful and fruitful second marriage.

None of these women were the “acceptable” norm.
But these are the women God chose to have in His Son’s earthly lineage.

And thankfully, He has chosen each one of us to benefit from His much-encompassing birth.
“…just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world…” (Eph. 1.4).
“…I know whom I have chosen…” (Jn. 13.18).
“You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit…” (Jn. 15.16).
“But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak
things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen…” (1 Cor. 1.27, 28).
“Has God not chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him?” (Jms. 2.5).
Indeed He has. Both famous and infamous, all forgiven by the blood of His Son—the King of Nations.

Reflect.
1. What fellowship do you have with Christians from other nations?

2. Do you pray for believers in other nations? How might you improve those prayers?

3. Do you pray for missionaries to other nations? How might you improve those prayers?

Matthew could have written, “David became the father of Solomon by Bathsheba” (the name of the woman involved). In deriding, so to speak, adultery itself, he rather stated clearly, “And David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah.” He thus showed that Christ, who descended from such a degenerate race by generation, “took up our infirmities and bore the burden of our ills,” as one of the prophets said. Severus (488-538), Cathedral Sermons, Homily 94

Pray Psalm 132.11-18.
Praise and thank the Lord for His promises and Kingdom. Pray for those believers you know who are serving the Lord in other nations.

Sing Psalm 132.11-18.
(Finlandia: Be Still, My Soul)
Remember, LORD, the oath You swore to David; 
do not turn back, do not deny Your Word:
“One of your sons, with your throne I will favor, 
if he shall keep My cov’nant evermore, 
and walk within My testimonies ever, 
thus He shall ever rule as Israel’s LORD.”

God dwells among us, and He will forever, 
to meet our needs and clothe us with His grace.
He has to us sent Jesus Christ, our Savior—
Beloved, etenal light and resting place.
His foes are banished from His Presence ever, 
but we shall reign with Him before His face.

T. M. and Susie Moore

If you have found this meditation helpful, take a moment to give thanks to God. Then share what you learned with a friend. This is how the grace of God spreads (2 Cor. 4.15).

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Except as indicated, all Scriptures are taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. For sources of all quotations, see the weekly PDF of this study. All psalms for singing are from The Ailbe Psalter.