I am absolutely loving getting to know more about the women in Jesus’ genealogy. Are you?
Historically, Jewish genealogies rarely mentioned women, never mind women of questionable character. Yet Matthew reports four women with questionable reputations in the line of the Messiah (see Matthew chapter 1). The first is Tamar. Genesis 38 tells us the story of how she ended up pretending to be a harlot and got pregnant by her father-in-law, Judah. Matthew did not need to mention her name. He could have simply written: “Judah begot Perez and Zerah, Perez begot Salmon…” but… he, being influenced by the Holy Spirit, put her name in intentionally. The second is Rahab. Here, we come to an actual harlot. Joshua 2 tells us that this woman showed hospitality to the two spies that Joshua sent to Jericho. She saved the lives of those spies. Joshua 8 tells us that when Joshua destroyed Jericho, God spared Rahab and her family. In this true historical storyline, Rahab is called a harlot in Joshua 2:1; 6:17, 25. She is also called a harlot in Hebrews 11:31 and James 2:25. It is suggested that after she came to faith and was born again, she married Salmon and that she never played the harlot again. But it is true that she was not a person of high moral character before she came to faith. In addition to this, Rahab was not a Jew and though she married a Jew, she was a Gentile. Matthew easily could have left her name out of the line of Christ. He could have written, “Salmon begot Boaz, Boaz begot Obed…” but clearly, the Holy Spirit wanted her name in Jesus’ official family tree. The third, whom we heard about last week, ‘Ruth’ is only of questionable reputation due to her birth. She was not Jewish, but she did marry a young Jewish man when he and his family were in Moab. She was born and raised in Moab. The Moabites had mistreated Israel when it came into the land, and they were not a blessed people. Moabites, though closely related to the Jews, were, nonetheless, Gentiles. Regardless, Ruth was clearly a woman of great character. Yet an orthodox Jew would likely have questioned both why God allowed her to be the grandmother of King David and why she would be included in a genealogy. This Sunday, we look at the fourth; The Wife of Uriah. Matthew does not mention her by name. He writes, “David begot Solomon by her who had been the wife of Uriah.” Bathsheba committed adultery with King David, as recorded in 2 Samuel 11. She had been seduced by Israel’s greatest king, and to some extent, she was complicit, though as the powerful one in the ‘relationship’, David clearly carries the blame. David was a man after God’s own heart, but he was not sinless. He committed adultery and had Bathsheba’s husband Uriah killed in order to cover up his sin. He only repented when God confronted him via the prophet Nathan (2 Samuel 12). Regardless, “Uriah’s wife” too is mentioned in the genealogy of Jesus… though, we might wonder, why she is not mentioned by name like Tamar, Rahab, and Ruth were? It’s possible, God wished to honour Uriah in the family tree. Even though he was not one of Jesus’ ancestors, he is mentioned by name and leaving out Bathsheba’s name brought added emphasis to Uriah’s name. Another reason might be to highlight the fact that she was not David’s lawful wife. She was the wife of another. Of course, she was David’s wife after Uriah died, but in a sense, she remained Uriah’s wife since she was taken by adultery and murder. Additionally, David had many wives, so, logically, Bathsheba would likely be the last of David’s wives to be in the line of Messiah, yet she is included. Are you wondering why? Come along this Sunday to find out more.
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