Reflections on Matthew 1-2-6a

Abraham was the father of Isaac,
  Isaac the father of Jacob,
  and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers.
  Judah was the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar,
  Perez the father of Hezron,
  and Hezron the father of Ram.
  Ram was the father of Amminadab,
  Amminadab the father of Nahshon,
  and Nahshon the father of Salmon.
  Salmon was the father of Boaz by Rahab,
  Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth,
  and Obed the father of Jesse.
  Jesse was the father of David the king.
Matthew 1:2-6a, Modern English Version (MEV)
 
If you’re like most readers of the Bible, whenever you encounter one of the genealogical lists, you roll your eyes and quickly move past, offering a quick prayer that you’ll never be called upon to read one of these lists, out loud, in public. While there are many among us who have a deep interest in genealogy, most of us raised with a western mindset would rather leave it than take it. The same cannot be said for many other cultures who take the remembrance of their ancestors very seriously.

For the people of Israel, knowing your line of descent was important for many reasons, not the least of which was the requirement that priests be able to prove their descent from Aaron, the brother of Moses. The genealogical lists also performed another important function, serving as a shorthand reminder of their story, of their history. Their history and beliefs were instilled in them from an early age as children. Almost everything they did, and the way they did them, reminded and reinforced these lessons.

The verses we are currently studying form the first of three tables that Matthew has divided Jesus’ genealogy into, the reason for which we’ll get into in more detail later. This first “era” of the life of Israel spans the beginning of the tribes of Israel up until the establishment of the Kingdom of Israel, a period of about 1,000 years. A quick perusal of the list tells us much, just from what we’ve learned from our own reading, Sunday School, and hours and hours of preaching that we’ve listened to. The list is an effective way to bring a huge amount of information to mind, more than we can effectively discuss here. For the purposes of this study, we will focus primarily on Abraham, as he is critical to Jesus’ own story. For this we’ll turn to the following article from Got Questions.org.

“Abraham was born and raised in Ur of the Chaldees, which is in modern Iraq, near Nasiriyah in the southeastern part of the country. Joshua 24:2 says that Abraham and his father worshiped idols. We can make some educated guesses about their religion by looking at the history and religious artifacts from that period.

“Ur of the Chaldees was an ancient city that flourished until about 300 BC. The great ziggurat of Ur was built by Ur-Nammu around 2100 BC and was dedicated to Nanna, the mood God. The moon was worshiped as the power that controlled the heavens and the life cycle on earth. To the Chaldeans, the phases of the moon represented the natural cycle of birth, growth, decay, and death and also set the measurement of their yearly calendar. Among the pantheon of the Mesopotamian gods, Nanna was supreme, because he was the source of fertility for crops, herds, and families. Prayers and offerings were offered to the moon to invoke its blessing.

“When God called Abraham (then called Abram) in Genesis 12:1, He told Abraham to leave his country, his kindred, and his father’s house. Everything familiar was to be left behind, and that included his religion. We do not know that Abraham knew about the true God at that point, but it is likely that he had received some instruction from his father, as each generation passed down their history to the next. As a worshiper of other gods, Abraham must have been surprised to receive a direct revelation from Yahweh. The moon god and other deities were distant objects of worship, and they did not personally interact with men. Abraham obeyed God’s call, and, when he arrived in the land of Canaan, he built an altar to Yahweh at Shechem (Genesis 12:7). The text indicates that God’s appearance to Abraham was a deciding factor in his choosing to worship Him. Hebrews 11:8 says that Abraham’s departure from Ur was an example of faith in action.

“Abraham continued to learn about this God he now worshiped, and in Genesis 14:22, following the example of Melchizedek, Abraham calls Yahweh ‘the LORD, God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth.’ This statement show that Abraham set Yahweh above and apart from the moon god. His decision to worship God alone was settled in Genesis 17, when God established the covenant of circumcision with him. God appeared to Abraham, saying, ‘I am God Almighty, walk before me, and be blameless’ (Genesis 17:1). In verse 7 God said the covenant He established with Abraham was to be everlasting and that He alone was to be God to Abraham and his offspring. Abraham chose to follow God alone, and he demonstrated his commitment by circumcising every male in his household.

“Though Abraham forsook moon worship, the worship of heavenly objects became a continual problem with his descendants. Many times in the Old Testament, God rebuked the children of Abraham for their idolatry and renewed His call to worship Him alone. In Deuteronomy 17:2-5, God specified the punishment for idolatry – death by stoning. Moses described idolatry as doing what is evil in the sight of God and transgressing His covenant. Much later, King Hoshea of Israel was defeated and the people taken captive. Second Kings 17:16 says the defeat happened because the people ‘bowed down to all the starry hosts.’ In 2 Kings 23:4-5 King Josiah of Judah led a revival of Yahweh worship and deposed the false priests who burned incense to the sun, moon, and stars.” – “What was Abraham’s religion before God called him?” GotQuestions.org.
As has already been briefly mentioned in the preceding article, God, Yahweh, made a covenant with Abraham. This covenant is a critical piece in the puzzle that is the people of Israel, and figures prominently in Matthew’s story of Jesus. For that reason, we will once again turn to an article from GodQuestions.org.

“A covenant is an agreement between two parties. There are two basic types of covenants: conditional and unconditional. A conditional or bilateral covenant is an agreement that is binding on both parties for its fulfillment. Both parties agree to fulfill certain conditions. If either party fails to meet their responsibilities, the covenant is broken and neither party has to fulfill the expectations of the covenant. An unconditional or unilateral covenant is an agreement between two parties, but only one of the two parties has to do something. Nothing is required of the other party.

“The Abrahamic Covenant is an unconditional covenant. The actual covenant is found in Genesis 12:1-3. The ceremony recorded in Genesis 15 indicates the unconditional nature of the covenant. When a covenant was dependent upon both parties keeping commitments, then both parties would pass between the pieces of animals. In Genesis 15, God alone moves between the halves of the animals. Abraham was in a deep sleep. God’s solitary action indicates that the covenant is principally His promise. He binds Himself to the covenant.

“Later, God gave Abraham the right of circumcision as the specific sign of the Abrahamic Covenant (Genesis 17:9-14). All males in Abraham’s line were to be circumcised and thus carry with them a lifelong mark in their flesh that they were part of God’s physical blessing in the world. Any descendant of Abraham who refused circumcision was declaring himself to be outside of God’s covenant; this explains why God was angry with Moses when Moses failed to circumcise his son (Exodus 4:24-26).

“God determined to call out a special people for Himself, and through that special people He would bless the whole world. The Lord tells Abram,

“I will make you into a great nation,
     and I will bless you;
I will make your name great,
     and you will be a blessing.
I will bless those who bless you,
     and whoever curses you I will curse;
     and all peoples on earth
     will be blessed through you” (Genesis 12:2-3).

“Based on this promise, God later changed Abram’s name from Abram (“high father”) to Abraham (“father of a multitude”) in Genesis 17:5. As we’ve seen, the Abrahamic Covenant is unconditional. It should also be taken literally. There is no need to spiritualize the promise to Abraham. God’s promises to Abraham’s descendants will be fulfilled literally.

“The Abrahamic Covenant included the promise of land (Genesis 12:1). It was a specific land, an actual property, with dimensions specified in Genesis 15:18-21. In Genesis 13:15, God gives Abraham all the land that he can see, and the gift is declared to be “forever.” God was not going to renege on His promise. The territory given as part of the Abrahamic Covenant is expanded in Deuteronomy 30:1-10, often called the Palestinian Covenant.

“The Abrahamic Covenant also included a promise of blessing and redemption (Genesis 12:3). All the earth would be blessed through Abraham. This promise finds its fulfillment in the New Covenant (Jeremiah 31:21-34; cf. Luke 22:20), which was ratified by Jesus Christ, the son of Abraham and Redeemer who will one day “restore everything” (Acts 3:21).

“Five times in Genesis 12, as God is giving the Abrahamic Covenant, He says, “I will.” Clearly, God takes the onus of keeping the covenant upon Himself. The covenant is unconditional. One day, Israel will repent, be forgiven, and be restored to God’s favor (Zechariah 12:10-14; Romans 11:25-27). One day, the nation of Israel will possess the entire territory promised to them. One day, the Messiah will return to set up His throne, and through His righteous rule the whole world will be blessed with an abundance of peace, pleasure, and prosperity.” – “What is the Abrahamic Covenant?” GotQuestions.org.

There is a lot for us to absorb here, and so much more that could be said, not only about Abraham, but every other name listed in this first division of Jesus’ genealogy, not the least of which is the Exodus, another critical part of Israel’s story. We will, however, discuss many of those happenings at a future point as we delve deeper into Matthew’s telling of Jesus’ story. For now, this has probably been enough to consider, and we do need to move on.