THE HEREDITY OF THE KING

        The Heredity of The King  
The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.  (Matthew 1:1) And Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ. So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; and from David until the carrying away into Babylon are fourteen generations; and from the carrying away into Babylon unto Christ are fourteen generations.  (Matthew 1:16-17)
 
I’M GOING TO "BORROW" THE EXCELLENT SUMMARY of the beginning of the book of Matthew from Warren Wiersbe, who was the pastor of Moody Memorial Church in Chicago for several years and a noted author of Bible commentaries and well-known Bible conference speaker. I heard him in Bible conferences at Tennessee Temple Schools while I was a student there in the early 1950’s.

“IF A MAN SUDDENLY APPEARS AND CLAIMS TO BE A KING, the public immediately asks for proof. What is his background? Who pays homage to him? What credentials can he present? Anticipating these important questions, Matthew opened his book with a careful account of the birth of Jesus Christ and the events that accompanied it. He presented four facts about the King.

                          “THE HEREDITY OF THE KING (Matthew 1:1-25)

“SINCE ROYALTY DEPENDS ON HEREDITY, it was important for Jesus to establish His rights to David’s throne. Matthew gave His human heredity (Matthew 1:1-17) as well as His divine heredity (Matthew 1:18-25).

                              “HIS HUMAN HEREDITY (Matthew 1:1-17).

“Genealogies were very important to the Jews, for without them they could not prove their tribal memberships or their rights to inheritances. Anyone claiming to be “the Son of David” had to be able to prove it. It is generally concluded that Matthew gave our Lord’s family tree through His foster father, Joseph, while Luke gave Mary’s lineage (Luke 3:23).
“Many Bible readers skip over this list of ancient (and, in some cases, unpronounceable) names. But this “list of names” is a vital part of the Gospel record. It shows that Jesus Christ is a part of history; that all of Jewish history prepared the way for His birth. God in His providence ruled and overruled to accomplish His great purpose in bringing His Son into the world.

“THIS GENEALOGY ALSO ILLUSTRATES GOD'S WONDERFUL GRACE. It is most unusual to find the names of women in Jewish genealogies, since names and inheritances came through the fathers. But in this list we find references to four women from Old Testament history: Tamar (Matthew 1:3), Rahab and Ruth (Matthew 1:5), and Bathsheba “the wife of Uriah” (Matthew 1:6).

“MATTHEW CLEARLY OMITTED SOME NAMES FROM THIS GENEALOGY. Probably, he did this to give a systematic summary of three periods in Israel’s history, each with fourteen generations. The numerical value of the Hebrew letters for “David” equals fourteen. Matthew probably used this approach as a memory aid to help his readers remember this difficult list.

“BUT THERE WERE MANY JEWISH MEN WHO COLD TRACE THEIR FAMILY back to King David. It would take more than human pedigree to make Jesus Christ “the Son of David” and heir to David’s throne. This is why the divine heredity was so important.

                                     “HIS DIVINE HEREDITY (Matthew 1:18-25).
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“MATTHEW 1:16 AND MATTHEW 1:18Matthew 1:16 and Matthew 1:18 make it clear that Jesus Christ’s birth was different from that of any other Jewish boy named in the genealogy. Matthew pointed out that Joseph did not “beget” Jesus Christ. Rather, Joseph was the “husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.” Jesus was born of an earthly mother without the need of an earthly father. This is known as the doctrine of the Virgin Birth.

“EVERY CHILD BORN INTO THE WORLD IS A TOTALLY NEW CREATURE. But Jesus Christ, being eternal God (John 1:1, John 1:14), existed before Mary and Joseph or any of His earthly ancestors. If Jesus Christ were conceived and born just as any other baby, then He could not be God. It was necessary for Him to enter this world through an earthly mother, but not to be begotten by an earthly father. By a miracle of the Holy Spirit, Jesus was conceived in the womb of Mary, a virgin (Luke 1:26-38).

“SOME HAVE RAISED THE QUESTION THAT PERHAPS MARY WAS NOT A VIRGIN. They say that Mathew 1:23 should be translated “young woman.” But the word translated virgin in this verse always means virgin and cannot be translated “young woman.”

“BOTH MARY AND JOSEPH BELONGED to the house of David. The Old Testament prophecies indicated that the Messiah would be born of a woman (Genesis 3:15), of the seed of Abraham (Genesis 22:18), through the tribe of Judah (Genesis 49:10), and of the family of David (2Samuel 7:12-13).

"MATTHEW'S GENEALOGY TRACED THE LINE THROUGH SOLOMON, while Luke’s traced it through Nathan, another one of David’s sons. It is worth noting that Jesus Christ is the only Jew alive who can actually prove His claims to the throne of David! All of the other records were destroyed when the Romans took Jerusalem in a.d. 70.

“TO THE JEWISH PEOPLE IN THAT DAY, betrothal (engagement) was equivalent to marriage — except that the man and woman did not live together. They were called “husband and wife,” and, at the end of the engagement period, the marriage was consummated. If a betrothed woman became pregnant, it was considered adultery (Deuteronomy_22:13-21). But Joseph did not punish or divorce Mary when he discovered she was with child, for the Lord had revealed the truth to him. All of this fulfilled Isaiah 7:14.

“BEFORE WE LEAVE THIS IMPORTANT SECTION, we must consider the three names assigned to God’s Son. The name Jesus means “Saviour” and comes from the Hebrew name, Joshua (“Jehovah is salvation”). There were many Jewish boys with the name Joshua (or, in the Greek, Jesus); but Mary’s Boy was called “Jesus the Christ.”

THE WORD CHRIST MEANS "ANOINTED;" The word Christ means “anointed”; it is the Greek equivalent of Messiah. He is “Jesus the Messiah.” Jesus is His human name; Christ is His official title; and Immanuel describes who He is — “God with us.” Jesus Christ is God! We find this name “Immanuel” in Isaiah 7:14 and Isaiah 8:8.

“THE KING, THEN, WAS A JEWISH MALE WHO IS ALSO THE DIVINE SON OF GOD. But, did anybody acknowledge His kingship? Yes, the magi from the East came and worshiped Him.
                            THE HOMAGE TO THE KING (Matthew 2:1-12)

“WE MUST CONFESS HAT WE KNOW LITTLE ABOUT THESE MEN. The word translated “wise men” (magi) refers to a group of scholars who studied the stars. Their title connects them with magic, but they were probably more like astrologers. However, their presence in the biblical record is not a divine endorsement of astrology.

“GOD GVE THEM A SPECIAL SIGN, a miraculous star that announced the birth of the King. The star led them to Jerusalem where God’s prophets told them that the King would be born in Bethlehem. They went to Bethlehem, and there they worshiped the Christ Child.

“WE DO NOT KNOW HOW MANY MAGI THERE WERE. From the three gifts listed in Matthew 2:11, some people have assumed there were three kings from the Orient, though this is not certain. But when their caravan arrived in Jerusalem, there were enough of them to trouble the whole city.

“KEEP IN MIND THAT THESE MEN WERE GENTILES.. From the very beginning, Jesus came to be “the Saviour of the world” (John 4:42). These men were also wealthy, and they were scholars — scientists in their own right. No scholarly person who follows the light God gives him can miss worshiping at the feet of Jesus. In Jesus Christ “are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Colossians 2:3). In Him dwells “all the fullness of the Godhead bodily” (Colossians 2:9).

“THE MAGI WERE SEEKING HE KING, but Herod was afraid of the King and wanted to destroy Him. This was Herod the Great, called king by the Roman senate because of the influence of Mark Antony. Herod was a cruel and crafty man who permitted no one, not even his own family, to interfere with his rule or prevent the satisfying of his evil desires. A ruthless murderer, he had his own wife and her two brothers slain because he suspected them of treason. He was married at least nine times in order to fulfill his lusts and strengthen his political ties.

“It IS NO SUPRISE THAT HEROD TRIED TO KILL JESUS, for Herod alone wanted to bear the title “King of the Jews.” But there was another reason. Herod was not a full-blooded Jew; he was actually an Idumaean, a descendant of Esau. This is a picture of the old struggle between Esau and Jacob that began even before the boys were born (Genesis 25:19-34). It is the spiritual versus the carnal, the godly versus the worldly.

“THE MAGI WERE SEEKING HE KING;he magi were seeking the King; Herod was opposing the King; and the Jewish priests were ignoring the King. These priests knew the Scriptures and pointed others to the Saviour, but they would not go to worship Him themselves! They quoted Micah 5:2 but did not obey it. They were five miles from the very Son of God, yet they did not go to see Him! The Gentiles sought and found Him, but the Jews did not.”(Warren Wiersbe)
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Read Through the Bible in a Year
MARCH 15, 2019 – FRIDAY         
A.M.  Deuteronomy 26-27   P.M.  Mark 15:1-26
(Bible Gateway will read this to you if you like. Look for the speaker icon.)

A Good Verse to Memorize:
Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.  (Psalm 119:11)
 
 
SONG FOR TODAY:
Keep on The Firing Line(2:43) (Calv. Mem. Ch. Men’s Ensemble)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2wSORRwBzA  
 (You may have to turn up the volume or delete an ad.)
 
Health Tip: Eating Raw. Eat as much raw as you can of fruits, vegetables, sprouts, micro greens (one stage beyond sprouts- 2” or so high) and fresh vegetable juice. If these are not available, you may wish to try some of the vege powders. Go for color. Home-grown sprouts in a big-mouth qt. or half-gallon jar (mung beans, green lentils, sunflower, alfalfa) and mini-greens (broccoli, kale) are winners. Raw carrot and sour apple juice have been my choice for 30+ years.
 
“Raw” translates into energy. Takes time. Anything but Snicker bars takes time. Any animal product is going to cost more than plant food and is harder to digest. Protein? Cows and horses get their protein from green plant stuff. Bible eating was mostly plant food except special occasions. Cut way-back on sugar and salt.  I’m not a health professional. I read and do. Google makes information easier and cheaper than when I began health-reading fifty years ago. Ω
 

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