30 Amazing Bible Stories You May Not Know
#22 | The Lineage of the Coming King
The Lineage of the King: Summary in anticipation (Matt. 1:1)
The words the book of the generation of… are interesting in that they echo Genesis 5:1.
Adam was the first man and delivered unto mankind the separation that is ours to this day (Rom. 5:12).
Jesus is called the last Adam (1 Cor. 15:45).
In summary fashion, verse 1 only gives three names: Jesus, from David, from Abraham. This serves several purposes:
To show that the lineage of Jesus can be expressed without including every name, and leaving out names will not do damage.
To show the two-fold nature of Jesus' work:
As the child of David, Jesus is the King on Israel's throne.
As the child of Abraham, Jesus is no king at all, but the one through whom all the earth will be blessed (Gen. 12:1-3).
Shows that the identity of Jesus is not dependent upon the later rejection of the King, Jesus is ultimately the son of David even if not yet sitting on the throne.
The Importance of Numbers in Scripture
That numbers themselves are important and significant for interpretation is seen simply from a casual reading of scripture.
“outline of numbers" that aligns with the significance of numbers
The first three segments of understanding the Bible numerically are:
FIRST -- the singular case is made.
SECOND -- The previous case is testified to or fought against.
THIRD -- The original case is seen in fulfillment.
This becomes important in interpreting the testimony of Matthew's genealogy.
The Lineage of the King: In Detail (Matt. 1:2-16)
The FIRST segment -- The Heads of the Promise, Abraham to David -- vv. 2-6
None of these men until David ever sat on a throne.
Judas (v. 2) was not the oldest, but the one through whom the promise would be given.
Of Pharas and Zara of Thamar -- note that the KJV uses Greek versions of the names rather than the traditional Hebrew.
The SECOND segment -- the departure from God -- 6b-11
This list begins with the one who began the rejection of God (Solomon) and goes through the loss of the Kingdom.
Perhaps most interesting: Joram begat Ozias (v. 8).
Joram is Jehoram of 2 Kings 8:25.
His son was Ahaziah, whose son was Joash (who has hidden -- 2 Kings 11:2), whose son was Amaziah
Amaziah's son was Uzziah (a.k.a. Azariah), who is Ozias in Greek, and thus in Matthew 1:8.
Thus Matthew 1 is missing 3 kings: Ahaziah, Joash, and Amaziah. Why? Ahaziah is the idolatrous son of Atheliah -- see 2 Kings 8:26-27. Then compare Exodus 20:4-5 and Leviticus 29:18-20.
These three are not the only missing Kings. The three above are missing from the genealogy, but there are two other Kings of Judah missing from the list.
Josiah begat Jechonias (v. 11), who was also known as Jehoahaz. He was the last free king of Judah.
Jechonias had two brothers, Jehoakim and Zedekiah, both who served under the authority of Pharoah-neco of Egypt.
Though both Jehoakim and Zedekiah were kings, neither were in the genealogy of Jesus.
The THIRD segment -- The fulfillment -12-16
This segment begins with Jechonias, the last of the line of Jesus to actually sit on the throne.
BUT, there is a problem: Jeremiah 22:30 is about Jechonias.
Jesus is the resurrection of the Davidic line, for He is not of the seed of Jechonias, but IS of the seed of David (see Luke 3:23-31).
The Lineage of the King: Summary in Review (Matt. 1:17)
The scripture notes the three sets of 14 generations.
The number 14 must be important, not only in its mention, but also in the fact that three of Jesus' descendants were blotted off the list.
The significance:
TWO is the number of testimony.
SEVEN is the number of spiritual perfection.
THREE is the number of fulfillment.
The genealogy of Jesus has three sets of fourteen, thus spiritual perfection given testimony (2x7) and fulfilled in Jesus Christ.
