Matthew 1; Part 2
Bloodlines Continued
Last week we spoke of King David’s huge mistake in sleeping with Uriah’s wife, Bathsheba. Again, that whole sorry episode is told in 2 Samuel 11-12. However, today I need to back up to 2 Samuel 7. This is the passage which records the covenant God made with David because of his great faith. Flawed and capable of terrible evil as he was, David’s faith was the most important thing to God. This “Davidic Covenant,” as it is called for obvious reasons, consisted of several points. I will list them here, adding parenthetical commentary as to the fulfillment of those promises, as well as consequences, when necessary, from God:
The Davidic Covenant
1) (vs 12) When David dies, his son’s kingdom shall be established. (Before David’s son, Solomon, no monarchy had been in place.)
2) (vs 13) That son (Solomon) would build a house for God’s Name. (Solomon built the 1st permanent temple)
3) (vs 13) God would establish Solomon’s throne (meaning his descendants’ right to the throne) forever.
4) (vs 14) If he (Solomon or his monarchical bloodline) commits iniquity (sins), God will allow the punishment of men (meaning He would give their enemies victories over them), and “the sons of men.” (meaning this would continue throughout the monarchy as time went by.)
5) (vs 15) God’s mercy, however, would not depart from the kingly line. (meaning He would punish them, but not kill off the bloodline of David’s progeny)
I know that you may be thinking, “Why is he going through all this Old Testament stuff when we are studying a New Testament book?” The fact is, in order to fully grasp the N.T., you must understand many things that happened in the O.T. It has become popular in some Christian circles for pastors to ignore the O.T. as ancient and irrelevant, but those pastors are foolish and will always, eventually lead their flock into false teachings! As we move on, you will see the truth of what I am saying.
Remember when we started this series, I told you that Matthew, being a very Jewish writer who was focused on proving that Jesus was the promised Messiah and King? The genealogical chart we are studying here is designed precisely to connect the above Davidic Covenant with Jesus. However, this brings two questions to mind: 1) How could David’s throne have stayed intact when Jerusalem and all Israel were destroyed by the Babylonians and, according to history, Jeconiah was the last king of Judah? And 2) Jesus may have been in the line of David, but since He died on the Cross and is now in heaven, how can He be King?
Answer 1) It goes back to the list of points in the Davidic Covenant above—namely points 4 & 5. If they sinned, God would allow punishment, even extremely harsh punishment, but His mercy would allow the bloodline to continue. Reading the genealogies listed in Matthew 1, you can see in verse 11 that Jeconiah was the last enthroned king of Judah before being carried away to Babylon. However, the bloodline continued to both Joseph and Mary. (As I said last week, we will get to Mary’s bloodline later.)
Answer 2) Though Jesus died on the Cross, was buried, and rose again, eventually going on to heaven, He was recognized several times (as I documented at length 2 weeks ago in my introduction) as the “King of the Jews,” He was called “Son of David” by many during His ministry, and He spoke openly about establishing His kingdom, all of which we shall see plainly as our study moves forward.
Also connected to His kingship is something else which goes all the way back to Abraham and the covenant God made with him when he was promised a son (Isaac). In Genesis 17:6 God promised that nations and kings would come through his bloodline. And later, in Chapter 22, verse 18, God promised Abraham that in his seed “all the nations of the earth shall be blessed.” It can hardly be argued that Jesus has indeed been a blessing to the whole earth.
But here is where Jesus’ kingship has lived on: When He ascended to heaven, He promised the Holy Spirit would come as a Comforter, a Helper, and One who would open our eyes to the deeper meaning of the Scriptures, allowing us, His disciples, to literally become His hands and feet. Therefore, empowered by the Holy Spirit, the “body of Christ” as the church is called, act as the King’s ambassadors. So then, in a very real sense, He is on His throne as King over, not only Israel, but the whole earth!
The False Teaching of “Replacement Theology”
Many so-called pastors and theologians are out there teaching a false doctrine called Replacement Theology. In simple terms, it is the idea that, because the Jews (Israel) have rejected Jesus as the Messiah, and since they were the ones who killed Jesus (their words, not mine), any time Israel or the Jews are mentioned in the prophetic Scriptures and the promises of a coming glorious future for Israel, we should replace the word, “Israel,” with, “the church.” Thus, all the glory is now laid upon the church, and it is fully acceptable to turn against the Jews and Israel.
These ideas are being propagated through various popular podcasts by people like Tucker Carlson, Candace Owens, and white-supremacist, Nick Fuentes. Often known by other names like “Supersessionism,” “Covenant Theology,” or “Fulfillment Theology,” one well known pastor who teaches/preaches this heretical idea is John Piper. Denominations that adhere to this tend toward the Presbyterian and Reformed churches, the Roman Catholic Church, and the Lutheran and Anglican traditionalist churches. I realize that it may be taboo to call out pastors and religious systems by name, but I care not for beating around the bush! My time, as well as your time, is too valuable for that nonsense!
Going into any real depth on this false teaching would be more than I have time and space for here. However, I highly recommend you follow the following link to hear what Jack Hibbs says about it:
I will, however, deal with the claim that the Jews killed Jesus. In Matthew 16:21-23, Jesus was starting to reveal to His disciples that He had to go to Jerusalem and be mistreated by the religious rulers, be killed, and be raised again on the third day. Peter took Him aside and rebuked Him for saying such things. Then Jesus said a shocking thing. He turned and said, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.”
From this exchange, it would seem that Jesus was angry at the very idea that He wouldn’t be killed! Why would that be? Simply put, because the eternal fate of all mankind hinged on the death of Christ upon that Cross! As soon as man disobeyed God in the Garden, God promised a “Seed of the woman” that would come and reverse the curse (Gen. 3:15).
Therefore, though the Jewish religious leaders schemed to kill Him, the Romans actually performed the crucifixion. God, who controls the rise and fall of empires, put the Romans in the seat of power in order that they could do exactly what they did. So then, the fact is, it was God who made the plan for Jesus to be crucified, it was Jesus who willingly went to the Cross, and it was the Holy Spirit who raised Him on the third day! The whole Godhead, in perfect fidelity, conspired to free mankind of the punishment for his sin. Not the Jews!
Next Week
Now that you understand a few of the important reasons for Matthew’s genealogical list as a start, we have a solid foundation upon which to proceed. Next week, we will go through the birth of Christ, an amazing story, generations in the making! Until then, get in the Word of God, pray for understanding, and if you’re married, pray together! You will discover something powerful in the act of coming together, side-by-side, to make your pleas to God. It will be the greatest spiritual investment you can make!
God Bless!
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