The Christmas Story...Part One
This part of the story of the birth of my Savior can be found in the Bible...
1 A record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ the son of David, the son of Abraham:
2 Abraham was the father of Isaac,
3 Judah the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar,
4 Ram the father of Amminadab,
5 Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab,
6 and Jesse the father of King David.
7 Solomon the father of Rehoboam,
8 Asa the father of Jehoshaphat,
9 Uzziah the father of Jotham,
10 Hezekiah the father of Manasseh,
11 and Josiah the father of Jeconiah and his brothers at the time of the exile to Babylon.
12 After the exile to Babylon:
13 Zerubbabel the father of Abiud,
14 Azor the father of Zadok,
15 Eliud the father of Eleazar,
16 and Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ. 17 Thus there were fourteen generations in all from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the exile to Babylon, and fourteen from the exile to the Christ.
~Matthew 1:1-17
It's interesting to see the importance the people took in genealogy. I've noticed that most people skip over this part... honestly probably because the names are so freaking hard to pronounce... BUT, I figure, if it's there, there is a purpose for it. So I'm thinking about every name as it comes up.
Abraham.
Father Abraham! He had many sons... He was promised, by God, to be the Father of a great nation! The nation of Israel, God's chosen people. THIS sounds like a family our Savior would be born into... But this guy made some serious mistakes too. Like, what about that time when his wife, Sarah couldn't get pregnant. She offered her maidservant to him for a son... and the guy accepted... talk about marital problems. Then he had to deal with the mother of his son... who really started to act disrespectfully to Sarah, and a jealous wife. That's one way to dig your own grave! One angry woman is hard enough, let alone two... and a kid thrown in the mix.
Eventually, and I do mean eventually, God promises Sarah a son!!! They are like really old by now... and there's a laughing incident, but that's another story. Anyway, she has this kid... and you can imagine how they treat him. He's like their pride and joy! They went through so much with him. Isaac! Isaac! Then God tests Abraham.... asks him to do the worst... sacrifice his ONLY son, Isaac, as an offering. Abraham goes to do it and God stops him just in time. Tells him to sacrifice a goat instead. pretty cool. So I guess we can say that Abraham was an average guy... had his ups and downs, I mean, he was Abraham and all, but he was still human! A great start for the nation of Isreal! But relating it to the Birth of Jesus... well, I can see a similarity... Jesus was God's own Son and He was sent by God to be the ultimate sacrifice for our sins... ripping the curtain... destroying the temple... and rebuilding it in three days. Abraham was about to sacrifice his only son for a sacrifice to God. Maybe it's just to show that God's love reaches really far, really deep, really strong... just so we can be saved.
Isaac.
This guys a pretty cool cat too! But for the sake of time, I will just say the important part... they went through a LOT to get this guy a wife... a LOT... her name was Rebekah. Yeah, goooooooood name! Anyway, she gets pregnant with twin boys, Jacob and Esau. Now these guys have an interesting story... it all starts with the fact that God promised Abraham all these blessings and he passed them to Isaac, to pass them to his sons, AND the fact that miss Beka and mr Jake had favorites!
Jacob.
Jacob and Esau were twins and from the second they were born, they were struggling with each other to be the best. Esau was the first born and that means that he gets all the good stuff, then Jacob gets the left overs. Just how it was back then. Anyway, Isaac liked Esau and Rebekah favored Jacob. When it was time for blind Isaac to die, he was ready to give everything to Esau, including God's blessing of a huge, favored nation! Well, Beka wanted Jacob to get that. SO, they come up with a plan. They trick Isaac into thinking Jacob was Esau, it's gross, there's a lot of hair involved, but anyway, Isaac gives Jacob everything. Eventually he finds out and it's a mess but... still, Jacob gets everything. and this is why Jacob becomes "Israel." Yeah, the nation. His sons become the twelve tribes of Israel. They have sons, and their sons have sons, and their sons have sons, and so on and so forth all the way until today!
Judah.
This is where the whole "Lion of Judah" thing comes from. Jesus comes from the tribe of Judah... so he is the Lion of Judah...... Jacob has a whole BUNCH of sons. Judah isn't exactly the most famous of these sons... Joseph is more well known... probably. You know... with his coat of many colors?! Well, that's not what I'm talking about. lol. I'm talking about Judah. He's the ONE guy amongst his brothers, the Heads of the Tribes of Isreal, that said they shouldn't just KILL Joseph, OH read the story on your own. lol. Back to Judah... he's a pretty decent guy, till he has sons. He becomes one of those guys that's so wrapped up in his own goals and agendas that he forgets the promises he's made. You know the type, there's about a hundred movies about these guys... and gals. Okay, well, Judah, he has first batch of sons: Er (God puts him to death because he's like waaaaayyy wicked), Onan, and Shelah. Well, Er had a wife and then he died. Well, back in those days, if the oldest son died without heirs, the next son had to marry his older sons wife and lay with her, producing heirs for his older brother.... pretty much taking his brothers name, and forgetting his own identity. GAY! Anyway, Er's wife Tamar is like "Hey, Judah, I don't have any heirs for your son, so.... what are you gonna do about that?" Basically, he makes Onan take Er's place! Well, THEN, Onan is like "Heck Nah! I'm not doing that!" So every time he had sex with his new wife, Tamar, well, he pulled out real quick and spilled his semen on the floor, so that she couldn't have sons. God wasn't so happy with him. He thought it was super wicked, so he killed him too! Tamar's stuck again! Well, the only other son Judah had at this time was Shelah and he was really young. TOO young to be married. So, Judah promised he would marry him to her, if she would wait. He told her to live in her father's house til Shelah was ready. BUT, secretly, he was thinking "She's killin em off. She'll have to wait til she dies." (in my words.) well, Tamar catches on. Years later, Judah's wife dies, and he gets over grieving and sees this chick, he's like.... ooo mamasita!!!!! he thinks she's a prostitute because she keeps her face covered and he acts accordingly. They sleep together and she's like okay, pay me, he's like i give this as a pledge to you... giving her his signant ring thing, his cord, and his staff.... oopsy! he tries to get a hold of her several times to get them back in exchange for the real payment, a goat or something lame like that. well, there's no sign of her. So he gives up and hopes nothing becomes of it. Yea RIGHT! People come yelling and screaming at him saying... " Your daughter-in-law Tamar has defiled your household. She is a prostitute and has become pregnant." Well he flips!!!! He's all mad because she's a whore, you know, he's saying bring her out to burn her to death..... And then she shows him his signant ring, cord, and staff saying I slept with the man who gave me these things. BOOOO YAAAAAA!!!! She totally showed him up! So they have children! Perez and Zerah! It's wierd... this is the line of Christ. I mean. He's not really from this family... as in no spermy... but, this is what the books say, you know. What a history!!! ESPECIALLY for the son of God! Just one last note... if you remember the excerpt from Matthew up top... Tamar is mentioned... it wasn't very common for women to be written about back then. They were considered property. The fact that Tamar is mentioned says that she definitely did something worth noting! The moral of the story... dysfunctional families didn't originate in the South Eastern United States.
Perez.
Twins! Perez and Zerah. They fight each other to get out of mommy! seriously, there are limbs going in and out... it's a struggle. You should read about it. It's.... interesting. So Perez, He's mentioned a lot. But no huge stories, except for the whole birth thing. See, if God hadn't taken out Judah's first two sons, this great tribe of Isreal would have been lead by very wicked people. It shows you just how well God plans. There is a purpose for everything. He perfectly wove Tamar and Judah's lives together so that they would eventually have sons who would be part of the line of our Lord. It's pretty neat. Well, Perez has no HUGE stories, but i think he must of done some pretty cool things because there are a lot of places named after him in the Bible. It never says why, but... I bet it was because he did some great things for his people. At least... that's my oppinion!
Ram.
Perez has Hezron, who then has his own son, Ram. I skip Hezron because he isn't really spoken of..... just his name. Now Ram. The only thing I really can remember of Ram is his name. I don't think he does much either. He refrenced to a lot in lineage. but i didn't want to forget him. i like his name. and he's mentioned in the list.
Amminadab.
First of all, sweet name! Second, Amminadab was known because he has a really cool son. His son, Nahshon, becomes a GREAT leader of the people! Nahshon leads his people through the normal stuff, but also in the sense that he was the first, in the book of numbers, to bring an offering to God on several occasions. Hey, if it's mentioned, there's a reason. Numbers 7.
Salmon.
Salmon's kinda like Ram, Except.... I don't really like his name. I don't know what he did... but he's mentioned. Any clues?!
Boaz.
I like Boaz. Boaz appears in the Story of the Book of Ruth! And this story is for the chicks. It's like one of the few chick flicks in the Bible... if it were a collection of movies that is. Before we talk about Boaz, let's note the passage from Matthew most definitely says... Boaz, whose mother was Rahab. Another woman mention. And what more important lineage, then the lineage of Jesus Christ. A long story short, Rahab was a prostitute. Not a pretend one... like Tamar... no a bonafide whore. Paid for sexual favors. Despicable stuff. But she ends up hiding some of God's spies in her home. So they spare her life when the city is overturned! The city of Jericho. Another courageous woman in the Bible. A prostitute. In the line of Christ. What a promise of hope! No matter what mistakes we make, God can still use us for His purpose. To forward His Kingdom. To aid in the Greatest Story Ever Told! Hope!! Well, she ends up having Boaz. And like I was getting at before... he's quite the catch. See, Ruth marries one of Naomi's sons. Detestation happens and both of Naomi's sons and her husband die. Ruth vows to stay with Naomi no matter what, even though they were doomed having no man to make money for them to live. She even vows to leave the practice of worshiping her gods to worship Naomi's God... the True God. My God. So, when they get to Naomi's home town, Ruth goes out into these fields, walks behind some workers, and pick up what they leave behind. (common back then.) Well, these fields just happened to belong to Boaz. He sees her and sees that she's beautiful. He wonders... Why she isn't married? Why no one works for her? And why she needs so much food... food for two. Well, he finds out why she works so hard... because she takes care of her mother-in-law. He tells Ruth that she is allowed to drink from the worker's water source and she is allowed to follow any of his workers. He also tells his workers to leave a little extra behind. He tells them not to make fun of her... or make any bad comments to her. Oh yes, i forgot to tell you that Boaz is actually related to Naomi somehow and remember how i said earlier that you had to remarry someone of the same family... idk, just go with it... well, Naomi tells Ruth to go to Boaz and uncover his feet and some other stuff... some kind of sign... So Boaz gets a little drunk and lays down. Ruth goes to his feet and uncovers them. Boaz asks who she is and she says that she his servant. She tells him to cover her with his garment because he is a "kinsman-redeemer." I think that means that he could marry her... the whole family thing again. "The Lord bless you, my daughter," he replied. "This kindness is greater than that which you showed earlier: You have not run after the younger men, whether rich or poor. And now, my daughter, don't be afraid. I will do for you all you ask. All my fellow townsmen know that you are a woman of noble character. " He says that to her. Beautiful. and then he says some pretty tough news.... "there's somebody in our family closer to you than I am. he has the choice to marry you first." so he asks the guy if he wants Ruth. (all of us hoping he says no.) Boaz presents the case to this guy in such a way... i don't think anyone would take it. the guys like... if i take this land and this lady... i take his name and endanger my own estate.... no way!!! so Boaz gets the girl!!!! They marry, and Naomi is the happiest mother-in-law ever. She is told that Ruth is better to her than seven sons would be! Ruth... a woman! Beautiful! Then, Boaz took Ruth and they laid together. They bore a son, Obed! Obed grew and had a son, Jesse!
Jesse.
A lot of people know the story that's coming up here. So I will keep it very short. Jesse has some sons. There is a war going on and his sons go to fight. All but one, David. He's too small to fight. So, the Phillistines bring this huge guy from Gath, Goliath. No one even has the guts to fight this guy. Day after day... they wait for someone to step up to the plate.... so David does. Little David. And long story short... He kills Goliath. He knocks him out with a stone... flinging it at him with a sling... and then takes Goliath's sword and chops off his head. I know... they normally leave that out of the sunday school version. Anyway, so David's a hero! Later on, he becomes the only one who can help Saul when he is troubled. Even later, David becomes friends with Saul's son, Jonathan. This is the closest friendship i've ever known of. You should read about it... it's really cool. Well, David has a few spouts with Saul and Saul becomes a little paranoid and a bit crazy. David, in the end, becomes king! It's a pretty sweet story!
There are soooooo many stories about David. He was a pretty amazing guy. A man after God's own heart! He feared and worshiped God with all he had. This great man! Of course he's a part of the genealogy of Christ! BUT... let's not forget that he was STILL human. One time he pretty much murdered a guy. See, he saw this really beautiful woman bathing... and he saw it and it was good. lol. he wanted her. when he found out that she was married, he had her husband sent to the front line of battle... almost guaranteeing his death! And boom, the guy did die and David took her as another wife... so i guess you could say he's not perfect. He wasn't. It just shows that God really does work the kinks out you know!? God DID punish David for that. His sons had some issues... his family had issues... But David never stopped worshiping God. He really did love Him with all his heart! He wrote a whole bunch of Pslams. His story was mixed with emotions and never once got boring. David's story is well-known. He was the King of a great nation! Just as God Promised years and years before.
Solomon.
Solomon is another well-known character! He was the son of King David. A king himself! He was the most wise and rich man that has ever lived... a part from Jesus on the wise part, who was God as man. He built the temple and tried to follow God's will. He wrote the book, Song of Songs (Song of Solomon), a book about love. He was wise and his opinions and knowledge were much sought after. With his great knowledge that God had given him, and with God's help, he wrote the book of Proverbs which still gives tid bits of wisdom to all who seek it with an open heart and mind, and whose prayers ask for it. What a wonderful man! I'm glad he's in the lineage... let's not forget that he had thousands of wives though. And he made several mistakes too. It's like God was trying to say something through this line of family members..........
Rehoboam.
Rehoboam became king once his father, Solomon died. Rehoboam wasn't very good at being king. He decided to listen to his friends instead of older men, his advisers when asking for advice... and it brought on a whole heap of problems. He had to flee for his life several times, and his decisions started a great war! He was at continual war with Jeroboam and his people. He lived war on a daily basis. He wasn't very happy and it all stemmed from his horrible judgment of character and his childish ways. Rehoboam had a son named Abijah, who had a son named Asa.
Asa.
"Asa's heart was fully committed to the Lord all his life." He spent most of his reign as king getting rid of all of the detestable things that were in his kingdom! He was a great king that was able to make peace with one nation that would in turn help support his troops against another nation. He was wise and calm. We know that he followed God all his life, as quoted above from 1 Kings 15. A good guy and a great leader, he would lead Israel through years of safety. He had a son named Jehoshaphat. When he died, he was buried with his fathers.
Jehoshaphat.
Jehoshaphat King of Judah was part of a cool story. Another major player in this story was the King of Isreal. Isreal's king was misguided at this time. He sought help from prophets who ended up telling him lies. Jehoshaphat would only join forces with Isreal in war if the God was going to bless them with victory. They sought the council of Micaiah, a prophet of God who would tell them the truth. They ended up going to war anyways... even though Micaiah foresaw destruction. The king of Isreal ended up getting shot with an arrow between the plates of his armor and bled to death. There was a massacre. Isreal and Judah had lost. "In everything he walked in the ways of his father Asa and did not stray from them; he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord. " He did what he could to follow the Lord BUT he did forget to take down and demolish the "High Places" as God had commanded years and years ago. People still continued to do evil things there. Another one of those misguided men that laid the foundation for the Birth of Christ! Jeoshaphat had a son, and his son had a son, Uzziah.... he's got a fruitful story!
Uzziah.
Uzziah became king when he was young. Like, a teenager, if I remember right. He was always doing what was right in God's eyes. Always seeking to follow God's will. As long has he was following God and seeking Him, he was successful in everything he did. When he went to war, he won. All of his victories made him really famous! Everyone knew who he was! He built all kinds of buildings and towers, he was a good king and kept his people safe. Uzziah is mentioned several other times in the Bible. Mostly, he's mentioned as a reference to God speaking through people. Nevertheless, this guy was good for Judah. Uzziah had a grandson named Jotham.
Jotham.
Jotham is known for rebuilding the upper gate of the Temple! Another piece of the puzzle. I'm not really sure why he's so important. any ideas?!?!?! he had some sons. One of his offspring... Hezekiah.
Hezekiah.
I had to look this one up. The Bible says: Hezekiah trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel. "There was no one like him among all the kings of Judah, either before him or after him. He held fast to the Lord and did not cease to follow him; he kept the commands the Lord had given Moses. And the Lord was with him; he was successful in whatever he undertook. He rebelled against the king of Assyria and did not serve him. From watchtower to fortified city, he defeated the Philistines, as far as Gaza and its territory. " He was the one that finally tore down those "high places" for God. I guess he is in there because he held so tightly onto God. Through thick and thin he held on. Never forsaking God, never forgetting the promise of redemption. A lesson to learn. Hold fast. Hold strong and you will overcome. God will take care of you. He is watching and holding tight to you! He promised redemption... and it came with the birth of His Precious Son! As for Hezekiah... his descendant, Manasseh, succeeded him as king!
Manasseh.
He was twelve when he became king!!!! He was a horrible king and wicked boy/man. He did very evil things and led his people to do very evil things. He rebuilt the "high places" that his dad had taken down. They were evil, but he loved them. He worshiped the stars and other gods. He made a mockery of the temple. He even sacrificed his own son in a fire to the stars, making God angry. God warned the people but they refused to listen. Manasseh led them into their destruction. And THIS guy is in the line of Christ. completely evil. Maybe God is saying He can do all things, even things we can't understand. He doesn't care who you are or what you've done. Just that you turn from it. Maybe He's promising us a "future and a hope".... no matter who we come from. Mannasseh had a son, Josiah.
Josiah.
Josiah was the father of Jeconiah and his brothers. Judah was exiled to Babylon. They were a part of the exile. Josiah was prophesied to be king. Now Josiah was a good guy! 2 Kings says "He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord and walked in all the ways of his father David, not turning aside to the right or to the left. " It's hard to go straight when your looking to the right or to the left or to the back for that matter. it is said in Isaiah somewhere, " no one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of heaven." Oh so true! Well, Josiah cleaned up the kingdom. He rededicated his people to God, he rededicated the temple, and he brought the people back to God! He did away with other gods and practices. He was a good guy that searched for God's heart faithfully and fervently. Another good guy in the list!! woohoo!! He had those sons.... Jeconiah is the important one.
Jeconiah.
We know nothing about this guy. This is the only time he is mentioned. he must of done something down the line. I like to think of him as the big nobody. An average Joe that is mentioned in Jesus genealogy. It gives me hope. That God doesn't forget you. You are not forgotten. You are in his faves. lol. He will never leave you nor forsake you! What a hope!
After the exile, Jeconiah had Zerubbabel.
Zerubbabel.
God promises Zerubbabel through a prophet that he will be okay. That He is with him in all things. Zarubbabel helps rebuild the temple and bring God's presence back to the people. He reminds them of God's love and grace. I think Zerubbabel is a reminder that God keeps his promises. He uses the weak and the strong alike. The nobody's and the famous. He is not afraid to use anyone for the advancement of His kingdom. He will use you if you are willing. Zerubbabel has a son, Abiud, who has a son Azor.
Abiud and Azor.
These guys aren't mentioned anywhere else either.... I guess just another reminder. Azor had a son, Zadok.
Zadok.
All that I could find on this Zadok was that he helped bring the people to God when the Israelites went astray. I suppose this is a lesson that we should always be pushing towards the advancement of God's Kingdom. We should always be striving to help others, even if they think they don't need it. We are responsible for our brothers and sisters in Christ, so take care of them. Zadok had a son, Eliud. Eliud had a son, Eleazar.
Eleazar.
I think this was the Eleazar that was in the choir. If so.... i like this! If so, maybe God is saying that music is important or acceptable. Music is kind of a touchy subject in Christianity. i won't get into it... but i do think it is important to worship God with music and with our lives. Maybe Eleazar was proof of that! Eleazar had a son Jacob. Jacob had a son named Joseph.
Joseph.
Joseph was engaged to Mary, the virgin mother of Jesus. It's important to know that Joseph was his earthly father but didn't contribute to the making of Jesus. No Joseph sperm involved here. They didn't have sex before they were married. I think everyone knows the story of joseph.... but i'll quickly indulge. A carpenter. He was a hard working man that seemed to have bad luck. First he finds out that his fiance is pregnant. that's a shocker, especially since he knew it wasn't from him. Then he's like freaking out because the whole world will probably think the worst of him... if not kill them for their "acts." Good thing God sends an angel and puts his mind at rest. The angel fills him in on everything and i bet he felt a lot better knowing she didn't have sex with anyone. Of course, he was probably still freaking out over the whole... my son is God thing. But there's a census and they have to go back to Bethlehem to be counted. Well, there's no rooms available because there are so many there on account of the census.... and who knew..... a stable is where his new son is born. Welcome to the world God!!!!
I won't go too in depth here on Joseph because the rest of the story is to come.
To sum up... i guess I believe that God put this "boring" part here for a reason. That it wasn't just important to the people of that time, but it was also important for us to read today. To me, I think this part of the story is important. I think it's an important sign of hope. A hidden message of deliverance. A reminder of the Love of God. Every single name rings the bell of hope to me. From Abraham being promised and delivered a son, to Ruth and her marriage to Boaz, to the nobody's, to the prostitutes who are loved by God, to the normal ol' carpenter who becomes the Earthly father of God in the Flesh. These are all signs that there is a purpose for our lives. That, maybe we won't get to see it for a long time, or maybe not at all, but it's always there none the less. That God is always working for the good of those who love him. He gives us a future and a hope. He would come to Earth as a small child. The tears that had been shed and the hearts that had been broken could now be healed by his fragile fingers. His tender brow would be prepared for thorns. and His tiny heart, it's blood would save them. A promise... and a hope.
Tears are falling, hearts are breaking
How we need to hear from God
You've been promised, we've been waiting
Welcome Holy Child
Welcome Holy Child
Hope that you don't mind our manger
How I wish we would have known
But long awaited Holy Stranger
Make yourself at home
Please make yourself at home
Bring your peace into our violence
Bid our hungry souls be filled
World now breaking Heaven's silence
Welcome to our world
Welcome to our world
Fragile finger sent to heal us
Tender brow prepared for them
Tiny heart whose blood will save us
Unto us is born
Unto us is born
So wrap our injured flesh around You
Breathe our air and walk our sod
Rob our sin and make us holy
Perfect Son of God
Perfect Son of God
Welcome to our world
1 A record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ the son of David, the son of Abraham:
2 Abraham was the father of Isaac,
3 Judah the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar,
4 Ram the father of Amminadab,
5 Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab,
6 and Jesse the father of King David.
7 Solomon the father of Rehoboam,
8 Asa the father of Jehoshaphat,
9 Uzziah the father of Jotham,
10 Hezekiah the father of Manasseh,
11 and Josiah the father of Jeconiah and his brothers at the time of the exile to Babylon.
12 After the exile to Babylon:
13 Zerubbabel the father of Abiud,
14 Azor the father of Zadok,
15 Eliud the father of Eleazar,
16 and Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ. 17 Thus there were fourteen generations in all from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the exile to Babylon, and fourteen from the exile to the Christ.
~Matthew 1:1-17
It's interesting to see the importance the people took in genealogy. I've noticed that most people skip over this part... honestly probably because the names are so freaking hard to pronounce... BUT, I figure, if it's there, there is a purpose for it. So I'm thinking about every name as it comes up.
Abraham.
Father Abraham! He had many sons... He was promised, by God, to be the Father of a great nation! The nation of Israel, God's chosen people. THIS sounds like a family our Savior would be born into... But this guy made some serious mistakes too. Like, what about that time when his wife, Sarah couldn't get pregnant. She offered her maidservant to him for a son... and the guy accepted... talk about marital problems. Then he had to deal with the mother of his son... who really started to act disrespectfully to Sarah, and a jealous wife. That's one way to dig your own grave! One angry woman is hard enough, let alone two... and a kid thrown in the mix.
Eventually, and I do mean eventually, God promises Sarah a son!!! They are like really old by now... and there's a laughing incident, but that's another story. Anyway, she has this kid... and you can imagine how they treat him. He's like their pride and joy! They went through so much with him. Isaac! Isaac! Then God tests Abraham.... asks him to do the worst... sacrifice his ONLY son, Isaac, as an offering. Abraham goes to do it and God stops him just in time. Tells him to sacrifice a goat instead. pretty cool. So I guess we can say that Abraham was an average guy... had his ups and downs, I mean, he was Abraham and all, but he was still human! A great start for the nation of Isreal! But relating it to the Birth of Jesus... well, I can see a similarity... Jesus was God's own Son and He was sent by God to be the ultimate sacrifice for our sins... ripping the curtain... destroying the temple... and rebuilding it in three days. Abraham was about to sacrifice his only son for a sacrifice to God. Maybe it's just to show that God's love reaches really far, really deep, really strong... just so we can be saved.
Isaac.
This guys a pretty cool cat too! But for the sake of time, I will just say the important part... they went through a LOT to get this guy a wife... a LOT... her name was Rebekah. Yeah, goooooooood name! Anyway, she gets pregnant with twin boys, Jacob and Esau. Now these guys have an interesting story... it all starts with the fact that God promised Abraham all these blessings and he passed them to Isaac, to pass them to his sons, AND the fact that miss Beka and mr Jake had favorites!
Jacob.
Jacob and Esau were twins and from the second they were born, they were struggling with each other to be the best. Esau was the first born and that means that he gets all the good stuff, then Jacob gets the left overs. Just how it was back then. Anyway, Isaac liked Esau and Rebekah favored Jacob. When it was time for blind Isaac to die, he was ready to give everything to Esau, including God's blessing of a huge, favored nation! Well, Beka wanted Jacob to get that. SO, they come up with a plan. They trick Isaac into thinking Jacob was Esau, it's gross, there's a lot of hair involved, but anyway, Isaac gives Jacob everything. Eventually he finds out and it's a mess but... still, Jacob gets everything. and this is why Jacob becomes "Israel." Yeah, the nation. His sons become the twelve tribes of Israel. They have sons, and their sons have sons, and their sons have sons, and so on and so forth all the way until today!
Judah.
This is where the whole "Lion of Judah" thing comes from. Jesus comes from the tribe of Judah... so he is the Lion of Judah...... Jacob has a whole BUNCH of sons. Judah isn't exactly the most famous of these sons... Joseph is more well known... probably. You know... with his coat of many colors?! Well, that's not what I'm talking about. lol. I'm talking about Judah. He's the ONE guy amongst his brothers, the Heads of the Tribes of Isreal, that said they shouldn't just KILL Joseph, OH read the story on your own. lol. Back to Judah... he's a pretty decent guy, till he has sons. He becomes one of those guys that's so wrapped up in his own goals and agendas that he forgets the promises he's made. You know the type, there's about a hundred movies about these guys... and gals. Okay, well, Judah, he has first batch of sons: Er (God puts him to death because he's like waaaaayyy wicked), Onan, and Shelah. Well, Er had a wife and then he died. Well, back in those days, if the oldest son died without heirs, the next son had to marry his older sons wife and lay with her, producing heirs for his older brother.... pretty much taking his brothers name, and forgetting his own identity. GAY! Anyway, Er's wife Tamar is like "Hey, Judah, I don't have any heirs for your son, so.... what are you gonna do about that?" Basically, he makes Onan take Er's place! Well, THEN, Onan is like "Heck Nah! I'm not doing that!" So every time he had sex with his new wife, Tamar, well, he pulled out real quick and spilled his semen on the floor, so that she couldn't have sons. God wasn't so happy with him. He thought it was super wicked, so he killed him too! Tamar's stuck again! Well, the only other son Judah had at this time was Shelah and he was really young. TOO young to be married. So, Judah promised he would marry him to her, if she would wait. He told her to live in her father's house til Shelah was ready. BUT, secretly, he was thinking "She's killin em off. She'll have to wait til she dies." (in my words.) well, Tamar catches on. Years later, Judah's wife dies, and he gets over grieving and sees this chick, he's like.... ooo mamasita!!!!! he thinks she's a prostitute because she keeps her face covered and he acts accordingly. They sleep together and she's like okay, pay me, he's like i give this as a pledge to you... giving her his signant ring thing, his cord, and his staff.... oopsy! he tries to get a hold of her several times to get them back in exchange for the real payment, a goat or something lame like that. well, there's no sign of her. So he gives up and hopes nothing becomes of it. Yea RIGHT! People come yelling and screaming at him saying... " Your daughter-in-law Tamar has defiled your household. She is a prostitute and has become pregnant." Well he flips!!!! He's all mad because she's a whore, you know, he's saying bring her out to burn her to death..... And then she shows him his signant ring, cord, and staff saying I slept with the man who gave me these things. BOOOO YAAAAAA!!!! She totally showed him up! So they have children! Perez and Zerah! It's wierd... this is the line of Christ. I mean. He's not really from this family... as in no spermy... but, this is what the books say, you know. What a history!!! ESPECIALLY for the son of God! Just one last note... if you remember the excerpt from Matthew up top... Tamar is mentioned... it wasn't very common for women to be written about back then. They were considered property. The fact that Tamar is mentioned says that she definitely did something worth noting! The moral of the story... dysfunctional families didn't originate in the South Eastern United States.
Perez.
Twins! Perez and Zerah. They fight each other to get out of mommy! seriously, there are limbs going in and out... it's a struggle. You should read about it. It's.... interesting. So Perez, He's mentioned a lot. But no huge stories, except for the whole birth thing. See, if God hadn't taken out Judah's first two sons, this great tribe of Isreal would have been lead by very wicked people. It shows you just how well God plans. There is a purpose for everything. He perfectly wove Tamar and Judah's lives together so that they would eventually have sons who would be part of the line of our Lord. It's pretty neat. Well, Perez has no HUGE stories, but i think he must of done some pretty cool things because there are a lot of places named after him in the Bible. It never says why, but... I bet it was because he did some great things for his people. At least... that's my oppinion!
Ram.
Perez has Hezron, who then has his own son, Ram. I skip Hezron because he isn't really spoken of..... just his name. Now Ram. The only thing I really can remember of Ram is his name. I don't think he does much either. He refrenced to a lot in lineage. but i didn't want to forget him. i like his name. and he's mentioned in the list.
Amminadab.
First of all, sweet name! Second, Amminadab was known because he has a really cool son. His son, Nahshon, becomes a GREAT leader of the people! Nahshon leads his people through the normal stuff, but also in the sense that he was the first, in the book of numbers, to bring an offering to God on several occasions. Hey, if it's mentioned, there's a reason. Numbers 7.
Salmon.
Salmon's kinda like Ram, Except.... I don't really like his name. I don't know what he did... but he's mentioned. Any clues?!
Boaz.
I like Boaz. Boaz appears in the Story of the Book of Ruth! And this story is for the chicks. It's like one of the few chick flicks in the Bible... if it were a collection of movies that is. Before we talk about Boaz, let's note the passage from Matthew most definitely says... Boaz, whose mother was Rahab. Another woman mention. And what more important lineage, then the lineage of Jesus Christ. A long story short, Rahab was a prostitute. Not a pretend one... like Tamar... no a bonafide whore. Paid for sexual favors. Despicable stuff. But she ends up hiding some of God's spies in her home. So they spare her life when the city is overturned! The city of Jericho. Another courageous woman in the Bible. A prostitute. In the line of Christ. What a promise of hope! No matter what mistakes we make, God can still use us for His purpose. To forward His Kingdom. To aid in the Greatest Story Ever Told! Hope!! Well, she ends up having Boaz. And like I was getting at before... he's quite the catch. See, Ruth marries one of Naomi's sons. Detestation happens and both of Naomi's sons and her husband die. Ruth vows to stay with Naomi no matter what, even though they were doomed having no man to make money for them to live. She even vows to leave the practice of worshiping her gods to worship Naomi's God... the True God. My God. So, when they get to Naomi's home town, Ruth goes out into these fields, walks behind some workers, and pick up what they leave behind. (common back then.) Well, these fields just happened to belong to Boaz. He sees her and sees that she's beautiful. He wonders... Why she isn't married? Why no one works for her? And why she needs so much food... food for two. Well, he finds out why she works so hard... because she takes care of her mother-in-law. He tells Ruth that she is allowed to drink from the worker's water source and she is allowed to follow any of his workers. He also tells his workers to leave a little extra behind. He tells them not to make fun of her... or make any bad comments to her. Oh yes, i forgot to tell you that Boaz is actually related to Naomi somehow and remember how i said earlier that you had to remarry someone of the same family... idk, just go with it... well, Naomi tells Ruth to go to Boaz and uncover his feet and some other stuff... some kind of sign... So Boaz gets a little drunk and lays down. Ruth goes to his feet and uncovers them. Boaz asks who she is and she says that she his servant. She tells him to cover her with his garment because he is a "kinsman-redeemer." I think that means that he could marry her... the whole family thing again. "The Lord bless you, my daughter," he replied. "This kindness is greater than that which you showed earlier: You have not run after the younger men, whether rich or poor. And now, my daughter, don't be afraid. I will do for you all you ask. All my fellow townsmen know that you are a woman of noble character. " He says that to her. Beautiful. and then he says some pretty tough news.... "there's somebody in our family closer to you than I am. he has the choice to marry you first." so he asks the guy if he wants Ruth. (all of us hoping he says no.) Boaz presents the case to this guy in such a way... i don't think anyone would take it. the guys like... if i take this land and this lady... i take his name and endanger my own estate.... no way!!! so Boaz gets the girl!!!! They marry, and Naomi is the happiest mother-in-law ever. She is told that Ruth is better to her than seven sons would be! Ruth... a woman! Beautiful! Then, Boaz took Ruth and they laid together. They bore a son, Obed! Obed grew and had a son, Jesse!
Jesse.
A lot of people know the story that's coming up here. So I will keep it very short. Jesse has some sons. There is a war going on and his sons go to fight. All but one, David. He's too small to fight. So, the Phillistines bring this huge guy from Gath, Goliath. No one even has the guts to fight this guy. Day after day... they wait for someone to step up to the plate.... so David does. Little David. And long story short... He kills Goliath. He knocks him out with a stone... flinging it at him with a sling... and then takes Goliath's sword and chops off his head. I know... they normally leave that out of the sunday school version. Anyway, so David's a hero! Later on, he becomes the only one who can help Saul when he is troubled. Even later, David becomes friends with Saul's son, Jonathan. This is the closest friendship i've ever known of. You should read about it... it's really cool. Well, David has a few spouts with Saul and Saul becomes a little paranoid and a bit crazy. David, in the end, becomes king! It's a pretty sweet story!
There are soooooo many stories about David. He was a pretty amazing guy. A man after God's own heart! He feared and worshiped God with all he had. This great man! Of course he's a part of the genealogy of Christ! BUT... let's not forget that he was STILL human. One time he pretty much murdered a guy. See, he saw this really beautiful woman bathing... and he saw it and it was good. lol. he wanted her. when he found out that she was married, he had her husband sent to the front line of battle... almost guaranteeing his death! And boom, the guy did die and David took her as another wife... so i guess you could say he's not perfect. He wasn't. It just shows that God really does work the kinks out you know!? God DID punish David for that. His sons had some issues... his family had issues... But David never stopped worshiping God. He really did love Him with all his heart! He wrote a whole bunch of Pslams. His story was mixed with emotions and never once got boring. David's story is well-known. He was the King of a great nation! Just as God Promised years and years before.
Solomon.
Solomon is another well-known character! He was the son of King David. A king himself! He was the most wise and rich man that has ever lived... a part from Jesus on the wise part, who was God as man. He built the temple and tried to follow God's will. He wrote the book, Song of Songs (Song of Solomon), a book about love. He was wise and his opinions and knowledge were much sought after. With his great knowledge that God had given him, and with God's help, he wrote the book of Proverbs which still gives tid bits of wisdom to all who seek it with an open heart and mind, and whose prayers ask for it. What a wonderful man! I'm glad he's in the lineage... let's not forget that he had thousands of wives though. And he made several mistakes too. It's like God was trying to say something through this line of family members..........
Rehoboam.
Rehoboam became king once his father, Solomon died. Rehoboam wasn't very good at being king. He decided to listen to his friends instead of older men, his advisers when asking for advice... and it brought on a whole heap of problems. He had to flee for his life several times, and his decisions started a great war! He was at continual war with Jeroboam and his people. He lived war on a daily basis. He wasn't very happy and it all stemmed from his horrible judgment of character and his childish ways. Rehoboam had a son named Abijah, who had a son named Asa.
Asa.
"Asa's heart was fully committed to the Lord all his life." He spent most of his reign as king getting rid of all of the detestable things that were in his kingdom! He was a great king that was able to make peace with one nation that would in turn help support his troops against another nation. He was wise and calm. We know that he followed God all his life, as quoted above from 1 Kings 15. A good guy and a great leader, he would lead Israel through years of safety. He had a son named Jehoshaphat. When he died, he was buried with his fathers.
Jehoshaphat.
Jehoshaphat King of Judah was part of a cool story. Another major player in this story was the King of Isreal. Isreal's king was misguided at this time. He sought help from prophets who ended up telling him lies. Jehoshaphat would only join forces with Isreal in war if the God was going to bless them with victory. They sought the council of Micaiah, a prophet of God who would tell them the truth. They ended up going to war anyways... even though Micaiah foresaw destruction. The king of Isreal ended up getting shot with an arrow between the plates of his armor and bled to death. There was a massacre. Isreal and Judah had lost. "In everything he walked in the ways of his father Asa and did not stray from them; he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord. " He did what he could to follow the Lord BUT he did forget to take down and demolish the "High Places" as God had commanded years and years ago. People still continued to do evil things there. Another one of those misguided men that laid the foundation for the Birth of Christ! Jeoshaphat had a son, and his son had a son, Uzziah.... he's got a fruitful story!
Uzziah.
Uzziah became king when he was young. Like, a teenager, if I remember right. He was always doing what was right in God's eyes. Always seeking to follow God's will. As long has he was following God and seeking Him, he was successful in everything he did. When he went to war, he won. All of his victories made him really famous! Everyone knew who he was! He built all kinds of buildings and towers, he was a good king and kept his people safe. Uzziah is mentioned several other times in the Bible. Mostly, he's mentioned as a reference to God speaking through people. Nevertheless, this guy was good for Judah. Uzziah had a grandson named Jotham.
Jotham.
Jotham is known for rebuilding the upper gate of the Temple! Another piece of the puzzle. I'm not really sure why he's so important. any ideas?!?!?! he had some sons. One of his offspring... Hezekiah.
Hezekiah.
I had to look this one up. The Bible says: Hezekiah trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel. "There was no one like him among all the kings of Judah, either before him or after him. He held fast to the Lord and did not cease to follow him; he kept the commands the Lord had given Moses. And the Lord was with him; he was successful in whatever he undertook. He rebelled against the king of Assyria and did not serve him. From watchtower to fortified city, he defeated the Philistines, as far as Gaza and its territory. " He was the one that finally tore down those "high places" for God. I guess he is in there because he held so tightly onto God. Through thick and thin he held on. Never forsaking God, never forgetting the promise of redemption. A lesson to learn. Hold fast. Hold strong and you will overcome. God will take care of you. He is watching and holding tight to you! He promised redemption... and it came with the birth of His Precious Son! As for Hezekiah... his descendant, Manasseh, succeeded him as king!
Manasseh.
He was twelve when he became king!!!! He was a horrible king and wicked boy/man. He did very evil things and led his people to do very evil things. He rebuilt the "high places" that his dad had taken down. They were evil, but he loved them. He worshiped the stars and other gods. He made a mockery of the temple. He even sacrificed his own son in a fire to the stars, making God angry. God warned the people but they refused to listen. Manasseh led them into their destruction. And THIS guy is in the line of Christ. completely evil. Maybe God is saying He can do all things, even things we can't understand. He doesn't care who you are or what you've done. Just that you turn from it. Maybe He's promising us a "future and a hope".... no matter who we come from. Mannasseh had a son, Josiah.
Josiah.
Josiah was the father of Jeconiah and his brothers. Judah was exiled to Babylon. They were a part of the exile. Josiah was prophesied to be king. Now Josiah was a good guy! 2 Kings says "He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord and walked in all the ways of his father David, not turning aside to the right or to the left. " It's hard to go straight when your looking to the right or to the left or to the back for that matter. it is said in Isaiah somewhere, " no one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of heaven." Oh so true! Well, Josiah cleaned up the kingdom. He rededicated his people to God, he rededicated the temple, and he brought the people back to God! He did away with other gods and practices. He was a good guy that searched for God's heart faithfully and fervently. Another good guy in the list!! woohoo!! He had those sons.... Jeconiah is the important one.
Jeconiah.
We know nothing about this guy. This is the only time he is mentioned. he must of done something down the line. I like to think of him as the big nobody. An average Joe that is mentioned in Jesus genealogy. It gives me hope. That God doesn't forget you. You are not forgotten. You are in his faves. lol. He will never leave you nor forsake you! What a hope!
After the exile, Jeconiah had Zerubbabel.
Zerubbabel.
God promises Zerubbabel through a prophet that he will be okay. That He is with him in all things. Zarubbabel helps rebuild the temple and bring God's presence back to the people. He reminds them of God's love and grace. I think Zerubbabel is a reminder that God keeps his promises. He uses the weak and the strong alike. The nobody's and the famous. He is not afraid to use anyone for the advancement of His kingdom. He will use you if you are willing. Zerubbabel has a son, Abiud, who has a son Azor.
Abiud and Azor.
These guys aren't mentioned anywhere else either.... I guess just another reminder. Azor had a son, Zadok.
Zadok.
All that I could find on this Zadok was that he helped bring the people to God when the Israelites went astray. I suppose this is a lesson that we should always be pushing towards the advancement of God's Kingdom. We should always be striving to help others, even if they think they don't need it. We are responsible for our brothers and sisters in Christ, so take care of them. Zadok had a son, Eliud. Eliud had a son, Eleazar.
Eleazar.
I think this was the Eleazar that was in the choir. If so.... i like this! If so, maybe God is saying that music is important or acceptable. Music is kind of a touchy subject in Christianity. i won't get into it... but i do think it is important to worship God with music and with our lives. Maybe Eleazar was proof of that! Eleazar had a son Jacob. Jacob had a son named Joseph.
Joseph.
Joseph was engaged to Mary, the virgin mother of Jesus. It's important to know that Joseph was his earthly father but didn't contribute to the making of Jesus. No Joseph sperm involved here. They didn't have sex before they were married. I think everyone knows the story of joseph.... but i'll quickly indulge. A carpenter. He was a hard working man that seemed to have bad luck. First he finds out that his fiance is pregnant. that's a shocker, especially since he knew it wasn't from him. Then he's like freaking out because the whole world will probably think the worst of him... if not kill them for their "acts." Good thing God sends an angel and puts his mind at rest. The angel fills him in on everything and i bet he felt a lot better knowing she didn't have sex with anyone. Of course, he was probably still freaking out over the whole... my son is God thing. But there's a census and they have to go back to Bethlehem to be counted. Well, there's no rooms available because there are so many there on account of the census.... and who knew..... a stable is where his new son is born. Welcome to the world God!!!!
I won't go too in depth here on Joseph because the rest of the story is to come.
To sum up... i guess I believe that God put this "boring" part here for a reason. That it wasn't just important to the people of that time, but it was also important for us to read today. To me, I think this part of the story is important. I think it's an important sign of hope. A hidden message of deliverance. A reminder of the Love of God. Every single name rings the bell of hope to me. From Abraham being promised and delivered a son, to Ruth and her marriage to Boaz, to the nobody's, to the prostitutes who are loved by God, to the normal ol' carpenter who becomes the Earthly father of God in the Flesh. These are all signs that there is a purpose for our lives. That, maybe we won't get to see it for a long time, or maybe not at all, but it's always there none the less. That God is always working for the good of those who love him. He gives us a future and a hope. He would come to Earth as a small child. The tears that had been shed and the hearts that had been broken could now be healed by his fragile fingers. His tender brow would be prepared for thorns. and His tiny heart, it's blood would save them. A promise... and a hope.
Tears are falling, hearts are breaking
How we need to hear from God
You've been promised, we've been waiting
Welcome Holy Child
Welcome Holy Child
Hope that you don't mind our manger
How I wish we would have known
But long awaited Holy Stranger
Make yourself at home
Please make yourself at home
Bring your peace into our violence
Bid our hungry souls be filled
World now breaking Heaven's silence
Welcome to our world
Welcome to our world
Fragile finger sent to heal us
Tender brow prepared for them
Tiny heart whose blood will save us
Unto us is born
Unto us is born
So wrap our injured flesh around You
Breathe our air and walk our sod
Rob our sin and make us holy
Perfect Son of God
Perfect Son of God
Welcome to our world
posted by Lillian | 9:28 AM
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