Genealogy of the Messiah Page 11
Christian Churches of God
No. 119
Genealogy of the Messiah
(Edition 2.0 19950604-20050509)
The significance of the genealogy of the Messiah is explained from Adam. The texts in Matthew 1 and Luke 3 are explained and the apparent contradiction between them and Chronicles is also explained. The correct and true meaning shows that Messiah was indeed sent to save sinners.
Christian Churches of God
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(Copyright ã 1995, 1998, 2005 Wade Cox)
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Genealogy of the Messiah
Genealogy of the Messiah Page 11
The genealogy of the Messiah is an important tool in understanding who Messiah was. More importantly the genealogies convey an important understanding of the fulfilment of prophecy and also of biblical law. Their excision from the Reader’s Digest Bible is a serious and unfortunate error.
There are a number of genealogical rules that have to be understood also from the outset. The first is that only the male lines were noted. This stems from the law and the practice that the female was taken into the tribe of her husband on marriage. There were a number of laws, which prohibited intermarriage. The prohibitions on intermarriage were there for sound reasons. From Numbers 36 we see that the land was given for an inheritance by lot to the children of Israel. The inheritance was outlined through genealogy. No woman who possessed an inheritance of the tribes of Israel could be married outside of her tribe (Num. 36:8). She was to marry into the family of her father’s tribe. The inheritance could not be removed from tribe to tribe. Each was to keep to their own inheritance (Num. 36:9). For on the blowing of the Jubilee the inheritance then passes to the tribe into which the woman marries (Num. 36:4). The Jubilee rules were applied from Leviticus 25. Thus genealogy was essential to the understanding and the maintenance of the economic system under the law. This system is held to be reintroduced under Messiah (see Ezekiel for its development). God follows the blood lineages and protects them even under dispersion and captivity (Amos 9:9).
These rules of inheritance applied also to the Levites. The houses of the cities of the Levites were their possession in the Jubilee. Therefore Levites were bound by the rules of inheritance over both the priesthood and the cities and the field of the suburbs of the cities (Lev. 25:32-34). This Levitical restriction has application to the Messianic prophecies, as we will see.
The genealogy of Messiah in the New Testament is of two lineages, in Matthew 1:1-7 and Luke 3:23-38, both entirely different. Moreover, the lineage in Matthew differs from that in Chronicles. Therefore there has to be a sound explanation for these contradictions or the Bible is open to the charge of being uninspired. Modern Christianity chooses to ignore the problem going even to the extreme that we see in the Reader’s Digest Bible. To understand what is happening is to admit of other problems which some prefer to ignore.
Matthew and Luke both commence with Adam. The lineage is a process of narrowing down the necessity of prophecy to a particular family in time. The seed of the woman came from Adam (Gen. 3:15). The seed of the woman here is in the masculine singular (zer’a). (The texts of Gen. 17:7; 21:12; and Gal. 3:16 have relevance. Satan’s power is removed and his system destroyed from Heb. 2:14; 1Jn. 3:8).
Genesis 17:7 showed that the Covenant and hence Messiah had to come through Abraham’s seed. Genesis 21:12 narrows the lineage to Isaac by whom Abraham’s seed shall be called. However Ishmael was also Abraham’s seed and therefore was established as a nation. However it was through Isaac that the seed was called.
The lineage of Messiah is further narrowed. John 7:42 refers to a number of prophecies in a single text.
John 7:42 Hath not the scripture said, That Christ cometh of the seed of David, and out of the town of Bethlehem, where David was? (KJV)
The Scriptures that are covered by this text are found at Psalm 110:1-7 where he is David’s Lord and Priest of Melchisedek. This text refers thus to the priest Messiah.
Psalm 132:6,11 shows that it is one of David and Ephratah that God will sit upon the throne.
Psalm 132:11 The LORD hath sworn in truth unto David; he will not turn from it; Of the fruit of thy body will I set upon thy throne. (KJV)
Messiah shall be of the root of Jesse and would be salvation to the Gentiles from Isaiah 11:1,10.
Isaiah 11:1 And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots: (KJV)
Isaiah 11:10 And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious. (KJV)
Thus Messiah had to be the seed of the root of Jesse, the father of David. Messiah is of David’s line from Jeremiah 23:5-8.
Jeremiah 23:5-8 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. 6 In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. 7 Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that they shall no more say, The LORD liveth, which brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt; 8 But, The LORD liveth, which brought up and which led the seed of the house of Israel out of the north country, and from all countries whither I had driven them; and they shall dwell in their own land. (KJV)
This text confounds modern Christianity because it shows absolutely that Messiah shall rule on earth and that there will be a second exodus which establishes Israel.
Micah 5:2 shows that Messiah will be born from Bethlehem.
Micah 5:2 But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting. (KJV)
Thus the seed is of Adam through Abraham, through Isaac, through Judah, through David and from Bethlehem. This is the traditional narrowing of the lineage. The lineage can and should be narrowed further than this. There are two aspects of the Messianic advent which show that Messiah is of two advents for two purposes. The first purpose was as the priest Messiah to establish the order of Melchisedek, to create a priesthood without genealogy, so that it might be opened to the Gentiles as the gift of God.
The elect have been ransomed by Christ as an order of kings and priests (Rev. 1:6; 5:9-10).
Rev. 5:9-10
And they sang new praise saying, Thou art worthy to take the book and to open the seals thereof; for thou wast slain and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation.10 And hast made them for our God kings and priests; and they shall reign on the earth.
The Aaronic priesthood therefore had to come to an end and with it the Temple both in Jerusalem and also in Egypt at Heliopolis. The temple of Leontopolis in the nome of Heliopolis was established by Onias IV through the prophecy of Isaiah 19:19. It was established in the land of Goshen to assist in the fulfilling of a prophecy in Hosea of both Israel and Messiah, that is, Out of Egypt have I called my son (Hos. 11:1; Mat. 2:15). The temple in Egypt operated from c. 160 BCE to 71 CE when it was closed by order of Vespasian after the destruction of Jerusalem. The closure thus completed the Sign of Jonah, extending from 30 CE - 70 CE, and being completed from 1 Nisan 70 CE to 1 Nisan 71 CE (see the paper The Sign of Jonah and the History of the Reconstruction of the Temple (No. 13)). The authority of the temple was removed after the forty years had expired which had been allowed for Judah’s repentance. The forty years followed on from the three years of Messiah’s ministry on a year for a day against that of the ministry of Jonah to Nineveh.
The new order was after the order of Melchisedek (Ps. 110:4). Christ was the High Priest of that order. The elect are the priests, being without genealogy (Heb. 7:1-21). These priests are also kings given a kingdom (Heb. 12:28). It is self evident that a High Priest can only be so if there are other priests over which he might rule. By definition those cannot be Aaronic, although the sons of Aaron will also be part of that priesthood (Rev. 7:7). The concept of the priesthood is wider than the nation, as the concept of Israel is also extended to include all nations.
The Messianic lineage included not only a Davidic lineage but also an Aaronic lineage. The prophecy shows that the lineages were of David through Nathan and Levi through Shimei. This prophecy in Zechariah 12:10-14 also shows that Messiah was to be killed.
Zechariah 12:10-14 "And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of compassion and supplication, so that, when they look on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a first-born. 11 On that day the mourning in Jerusalem will be as great as the mourning for Hadadrim'mon in the plain of Megid'do. 12 The land shall mourn, each family by itself; the family of the house of David by itself, and their wives by themselves; the family of the house of Nathan by itself, and their wives by themselves; 13 the family of the house of Levi by itself, and their wives by themselves; the family of the Shim'e-ites by itself, and their wives by themselves; 14 and all the families that are left, each by itself, and their wives by themselves. (RSV) (note the KJV reads me whom they have pierced based on western codices, the eastern codices show the correct word to be him).
The text shows two lineages. The first is David through Nathan the second is Levi through Shimei. This act was to cause a destruction and a mourning in Jerusalem and the nation (vv. 11-14). The prophecy thus linked the destruction of Jerusalem to the death of Messiah. The time span of the forty years from 30 CE to 70 CE is thus of significance. Jerusalem was surrounded by Roman armies from 1 Nisan 70 CE. The Jerusalem temple was destroyed in 70 CE from Atonement however the Egyptian temple was closed in 71 CE from the order of Vespasian following the Jewish war. The destruction continued in the countryside after the destruction of the temple.
Only Matthew and Luke are concerned with genealogies. Mark and John commence with Jesus as an adult, thus genealogies are not as relevant.
In his paper (“The Genealogy of Messiah”, The Vineyard, November 1993, pp. 10-13, reprinted from Issues, A Messianic Jewish Perspective) Dr. Arnold Fruchtenbaum of Ariel Ministries says:
In Matthew, Joseph plays an active role, but Miriam (Mary) plays a passive role. Matthew records angels appearing to Joseph, but there is no record of angels appearing to Miriam. Matthew records Joseph’s thoughts but nothing is recorded about Miriam’s thoughts. On the other hand, Luke’s Gospel tells the same story from Miriam’s perspective. From the context of each Gospel, it should be very evident that the genealogy of Matthew is that of Joseph, and the genealogy of Luke is that of Miriam.
The question then raised is: why do we need two genealogies, especially since Y’shua (Jesus) was not the real son of Joseph? A popular and common answer is: Matthew’s Gospel gives the royal line, whereas Luke’s Gospel gives the real line. From this concept another theory arises. Since seemingly Joseph was the heir apparent to David’s throne, and Jesus was the adopted son of Joseph, Jesus could claim the right to David’s throne.
On the other hand, Luke’s Gospel gives the real line, showing that Y’shua himself was a descendant of David. Through Miriam, he was a member of the house of David, but he could claim the right to sit on David’s throne through Joseph, the heir apparent. Actually the exact opposite is true (emphasis added).
Arnold Fruchtenbaum raises very important issues in his work, however he does not tie them in as is necessary from an understanding of Zechariah as we see above. From Zechariah we see the lineage of David through Nathan mentioned. Nothing is mentioned of David through Solomon and for very good reason.
As noted by Fruchtenbaum, there were two requirements for kingship in the Hebrew Scriptures. These were adopted after the division of the kingdom after the death of Solomon.
The first requirement to hold the throne of Judah was to be a Davidic descendent. Messiah was to be seated on the throne of David (Isa. 9:7). The king could only be of the House of David. Jeremiah 33:20-21 shows that the covenant with David and his seed, and also the Levites, could not be broken. Any conspiracy to do away with the House of David such as we see from Isaiah 7:5-6 was prophesied to fail.
Isaiah 7:5-6 Because Syria, with E'phraim and the son of Remali'ah, has devised evil against you, saying, 6 "Let us go up against Judah and terrify it, and let us conquer it for ourselves, and set up the son of Ta'be-el as king in the midst of it," (RSV)
The prophesied failure was to preserve the kingdom so that Scripture could not be broken. Messiah will return to take up that kingdom in accordance with Daniel 2:35,44-45.