Matthew 1:1-17

In this episode Brother Jonathan starts going through the book of Matthew, beginning with Matthew's genealogy of Christ.

 

Remnant Bible Fellowship

S3EP12

Matthew 1:1-17

 

1:1 – “The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.” (Mat 1:1)

“Book of the generation of Jesus Christ” – “Generation” means that “this is a genealogy of Jesus Christ”. The phrase “book of the generation of” is reminiscent of the OT genealogies. Matthew places Jesus at the front to emphasize that all of these are dependent upon Him. Matthew also uses the Hebrew way of genealogy which goes from progenitor to ancestor. This is in contrast with Luke’s gospel which goes the other way—the Greek way. There are notable differences between Luke’s and Matthew’s genealogies. Luke’s is much more detailed while Matthew skips peoples’ names and even has some play on words with alternative renderings of names. (Amon to Amos, Asa to Asaph). Some of these differences are between Greek text families. If you read a KJV you won’t notice these two, but if you read a version based on the Critical text then you will. The weight of manuscript evidence goes to the renderings Amos and Asaph. This actually is in agreement with what Matthew does seem to be doing with his genealogy different from Luke. Matthew is emphasizing that Jesus is integral to Israel’s history. He’s tied to notable people throughout their history by direct descent. He makes the play on words by changing Amon to Amos and Asa to Asaph to evoke the more spiritual picture of the prophet Amos and the psalmist Asaph. This kind of alteration of names happened at times in this type of work. Indeed, things such as Hebrew Midrash allowed for very free application of things sometimes to allude to OT pictures. I’m not going to go into detail about the differences. There are better teachers for that. But know that Matthew does skip generations and does other things for the purpose of his theme. Practices like these were not uncommon at times. Son of David – Matthew mentions two people in this first verse: Abraham and David. The Messiah had to be a descendent of Abraham (a Hebrew) and David (to inherit his throne). “And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed…And the LORD appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land: and there builded he an altar unto the LORD, who appeared unto him.” (Gen 12:3, 7) “Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.” (Gal 3:16) “And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build an house for my name, and I will stablish the throne of his kingdom for ever. I will be his father, and he shall be my son. If he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men: But my mercy shall not depart away from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away before thee. And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established for ever before thee: thy throne shall be established for ever.” (2Sam 7:12-16)

1:2 – “Abraham begat Isaac; and Isaac begat Jacob; and Jacob begat Judas and his brethren;” (Mat 1:2)

“Abraham begat Isaac” – Isaac was the child of promise over Ishmael. (second born) “Isaac begat Jacob” – Jacob was chosen over Esau. (the firstborn serves the second born) His name was changed to “Israel”, which means “prince of God”. “Jacob begat Judas and his brethren” – This is the twelve “patriarchs”. Their descendents would be the twelve tribes of Israel. So Genesis covers from the beginning of creation all the way to God beginning the form the nation of Israel.

1:3 – “And Judas begat Phares and Zara of Thamar; and Phares begat Esrom; and Esrom begat Aram;” (Mat 1:3)

This verse, up to Esrom, is in the book of Genesis. When you read through the book of Genesis you notice in chapter 38 that it goes on a sidebar for some reason. When the narrative begins to focus on Joseph the focus shifts to Judah for some reason. We have a better understanding of that now, because it was when Judah slept with his daughter-in-law unknowingly and she had a set of twins. Of these two twins was Pharez, of whom the Messiah would be born.

1:4 – “And Aram begat Aminadab; and Aminadab begat Naasson; and Naasson begat Salmon;” (Mat 1:4)

Nashon (Naasson) is mentioned in Num. 1:7. He is part of the Exodus generation. Naasson was a prince over the tribe of Judah during the generation that come up out of Egypt with Moses. He is also mentioned in David’s genealogy in 1 Chronicles 2:10-11.

1:5 – “And Salmon begat Booz of Rachab; and Booz begat Obed of Ruth; and Obed begat Jesse;” (Mat 1:5)

Here we enter into the lineage of David. Salmon is the Israelite who married Rahab (Rachab) the harlot. This is the Rahab who hid the two Hebrew spies sent by Joshua to Jericho before Israel crossed the river Jordan to enter Canaan. (Josh. 2:1 cf. 6:25) Rahab was a Caananite who was accepted into Israel because of her faith in the God of Israel. She is listed as an example of faith in Hebrews 11: “By faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not, when she had received the spies with peace.” (Heb 11:31) Booz is the Boaz of the book of Ruth. This was during the time of the Judges after Joshua but before the time of the Kings. Ruth was a Moabite who was married by Boaz. This actually has a lot of prophetic foreshadowing. Hebrew prophecy occurs in patterns. There are patterns that are repeatedly used throughout the OT that foreshadow an ultimate fulfillment. This is obviously aside from the things that the prophets plainly state. Boaz marrying Ruth, and the whole story of the book of Ruth, ultimately pictures Christ as our Kinsman Redeemer—the Hebrew “goel”. Boaz was a close relative of Ruth’s dead husband, but there was a closer relative who was unable to redeem Ruth. So, because this first man was unable to fulfill the role of the kinsman redeemer Boaz was able to fulfill it. This “kinsman redeemer” was the one who has the right to redeem the forfeited inheritance of the family member who had died. In order to redeem the inheritance he had to take the widow of the one who died and raise up children to his brother’s name. This was the practice of Levirate marriage. Just as Boaz was Ruth’s near kinsman Christ is our kinsman redeemer. He became a man so that He could redeem us. The first man, who was the first man, is Adam. Adam is unable to redeem us and Christ is able to redeem us. Ruth, being a Moabite, was cut off from the commonwealth of Israel and the promises and covenants. This is the bride of Christ. Those who were cut off from God’s promises and are brought close to God by Christ’s redemption. There are all sorts of aspects that picture NT salvation and the new covenant. Of course, you have to remember that you can’t make an exact and detailed line-by-line teaching this way. There are prophetic patterns laid out this way in the OT. The clear doctrinal things are clearly stated. You should never use a pattern, or typology, from the OT to reinterpret the NT.

1:6 – “And Jesse begat David the king; and David the king begat Solomon of her that had been the wife of Urias;” (Mat 1:6)

Jesse is mentioned in 1 Samuel 16 where the prophet Samuel is told by God to go to his house and anoint his son king over Israel. This would be Jesse’s youngest son David. This is one of the places where Matthew’s genealogy diverges from Luke’s. Matthew traces Jesus ancestry through David’s son Solomon while Luke traces it through Nathan. Solomon was David’s second child from Bathsheba. God punished David for his sin in having her husband Uriah killed after committing adultery with her by not allowing the child to live. After that, and David’s repentance (Psalm 51), God blessed them with Solomon who would succeed David to the throne of Israel.

1:7 – “And Solomon begat Roboam; and Roboam begat Abia; and Abia begat Asa;” (Mat 1:7)

Rehoboam (Roboam) was the son of Solomon that became king after him. He was king when the kingdom was divided. God divided the kingdom of Israel as a result of Solomon’s sin (1 Ki. 11:11). Jeroboam the son of Nebat led the charge of rebelling against the house of David (the kingly line of David). The ten northern tribes separated from the tribes of Judah and Benjamin. Samaria was the capital of the north and is referred to in the OT as either Israel or Ephraim. Jerusalem remained the capital of the south and it was called Judah. There were no godly kings over the northern kingdom of Israel. The only godly kings that came were over the kingdom of Judah.

1:7-11 – “And Solomon begat Roboam; and Roboam begat Abia; and Abia begat Asa; And Asa begat Josaphat; and Josaphat begat Joram; and Joram begat Ozias; And Ozias begat Joatham; and Joatham begat Achaz; and Achaz begat Ezekias; And Ezekias begat Manasses; and Manasses begat Amon; and Amon begat Josias; And Josias begat Jechonias and his brethren, about the time they were carried away to Babylon:” (Mat 1:7-11)

From Abia to Jechoniah is the time period covered in 1 Kings through 2 Chronicles. This is the line of the kings of Judah (the south) that are recorded here. It is throughout this time period that many of the Old Testament prophets were ministering. Isaiah, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah.

1:12 – “And after they were brought to Babylon, Jechonias begat Salathiel; and Salathiel begat Zorobabel;” (Mat 1:12)

After the kingdom of Judah was destroyed by God for their wickedness the Jews were taken to Babylon. This was the time of the prophets Jeremiah (who was in Jerusalem before, during, and after the destruction of Jerusalem – Lamentations is a result of this), Ezekiel (who was taken to Babylonia when Jerusalem was destroyed), and Daniel (who was taken to Babylon). Shealtiel (Salathiel) lived during the time of this dispersion and had a son named Zerubbabel. The book of Esther happens during the time of the dispersion.

1:13 – “And Zorobabel begat Abiud; and Abiud begat Eliakim; and Eliakim begat Azor;” (Mat 1:13)

Zerubbabel (Zorobabel) was a leader of the Jews when they were led back up to rebuild Jerusalem. (The books of Ezra and Nehemiah record this) The prophets Zechariah and Haggai are here.

1:13-16 – “And Zorobabel begat Abiud; and Abiud begat Eliakim; and Eliakim begat Azor; And Azor begat Sadoc; and Sadoc begat Achim; and Achim begat Eliud; And Eliud begat Eleazar; and Eleazar begat Matthan; and Matthan begat Jacob; And Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.” (Mat 1:13-16)

From Abiud (most likely) to Joseph covers the period known as the “inter-testamental silence”. The prophet Malachi lived some time after Zechariah and Haggai and was the last prophet before the opening of the New Testament. After Malachi, there was a gap of around 400 years before the events described in the gospels began.

1:17 – “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.” (Mat 1:17)

Matthew sums up the genealogy by emphasizing three distinct events in Israel’s history: Abraham (the father of all the Jews), David (the throne that the Messiah would reestablish), and the carrying away to Babylon.