The Text:
Genesis 2:18-25
This is a message about the trustworthiness of the Scriptures. Many critics have attacked the Word of God over the centuries, and while the Word is still here, they are all gone. It has been well said that the Bible is an anvil that has worn out many hammers.
What I want to do in this message is a little different than our usual pattern. In the first part I want to walk you through a detailed and somewhat didactic treatment of the genealogies of Christ given in Matthew and Luke, harmonizing them. I want to show you the Bible is reliable, in other words. And then after that, I want to do what all sermons should do, which is to proclaim Christ.
“The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. Abraham begat Isaac; and Isaac begat Jacob; and Jacob begat Judas and his brethren . . .” (Matthew 1:1–17).
“And Jesus himself began to be about thirty years of age, being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph, which was the son of Heli, which was the son of Matthat, which was the son of Levi, which was the son of Melchi, which was the son of Janna, which was the son of Joseph . . .” (Luke 3:23–24).
These genealogies are different, which is why it is a common solution for people to say that one of them must be for Mary, and the other one is for Joseph. The problem is that both genealogies terminate with Joseph (Matt. 1:16; Luke 3:23), which then creates the new problem of why the genealogies are different. How can one person have two different family trees? So where are they different and why? Unbelievers, of course, can simply say that the accounts here are hopelessly corrupt—but that option is not open to us.
Matthew is clearly working from written records (he mentions a book), and he starts with Abraham. Luke traces the Lord’s ancestry all the way back to Adam. Luke is probably dedicating this book to Theophilus ben Annas, who was the high priest from 37 to 41 A.D. He was the son of Annas, and the brother-in-law to Caiaphas—the term excellentwas one that was applied to kings and high priests. This means that great care would have been taken with genealogical claims, which the Jews took very seriously. Now Matthew and Luke run in parallel from Abraham to David, and then they diverge—Matthew goes through Solomon and Luke through Nathan (1 Chron. 3:5). They converge later in Shealtiel and Zerubbabel, and then part ways again until they come back together with Joseph. So how is Scripture not in error when it gives us Joseph’s lineage in two different ways?
Genealogical records were public, housed in the Temple, and available to any serious inquirer. The patrician households of David and Zadok also kept independent records. Matthew and Luke would have had access to these records, and it is worth remembering that others would have been able to come and check on their work as well.
Why does Matthew have three groups of fourteen names? One reason is that 14 is the numerological value of the name David. The three-fold repetition emphasizes the descent from David. But that is not the only reason for some of the omissions.
Matthew removes three kings from his list, jumping from Jehoram to Uzziah. He does this because of Elijah’s curse.
“‘Behold, I will bring calamity on you. I will take away your posterity, and will cut off from Ahab every male in Israel, both bond and free” (1 Kings 21:21, NKJV).
Matthew does this out to the fourth generation (Ex. 20:3-6). And also he later drops the wicked king Jehoakim (2 Kings 23:36-24:7)—doing this, I believe, in response to Jeremiah’s curse.
“Therefore thus saith the Lord of Jehoiakim king of Judah; He shall have none to sit upon the throne of David: and his dead body shall be cast out in the day to the heat, and in the night to the frost” (Jeremiah 36:30).
But omissions, while different, do not mess up a genealogy the same way different stirps do. (A stirp is a line of people descending from one ancestor.)
Matthew says that Shealtiel was the son of Jeconiah, and Luke says he was the son of Neri, and Shealtiel sure looks like the same man, the father of Zerubbabel in both places. How to explain this? Jeremiah, the prophet who cursed Jehoiakim, also cursed his son Jeconiah. And notice the first words.
“Thus saith the Lord, Write ye this man childless, a man that shall not prosper in his days: for no man of his seed shall prosper, sitting upon the throne of David, and ruling any more in Judah” (Jeremiah 22:30).
This next part is pieced together with the aid of some extrabiblical history. But we need to figure something out because there is a place in Scripture that says that Jeconiah had one son, Zedekiah, but then in the next verse it says he also had seven sons (1 Chron. 3:16-17). What about that?
So I take it that Zedekiah died young, thus fulfilling the prophetic curse. Then Jeconiah in Babylon married a woman named Tamar, granddaughter of King Josiah. Scripture calls Jeconiah a captive here (1 Chron. 3:17). Tamar had been married before to a man named Neri, and her oldest was Shealtiel, who came into Jeconiah’s line by adoption.
But wait. We are not done. Who was the father of Zerubbabel? Matthew and Luke agree that it is Shealtiel, but we read elsewhere that it was Shealtiel’s brother, Pedaiah (1 Chron. 3:19). This is likely the result of a levirate marriage—Shealtiel dying without issue, and his brother sired an heir for his deceased brother.
One last thing, speaking of levirate marriage. Matthew says that Joseph’s father was Jacob and Luke says that his father was Heli. According to a second century source (Sextus Julius Africanus), this was the result of another levirate union. Heli died without issue, and so his brother Jacob raised up seed for him—who was Joseph.
God’s Word is perfect. Without that perfect Word, we cannot have confidence in the perfection of the Christ who is proclaimed to us. With that perfect Word, we can see that God is in absolute control of every detail of human history, and is able to weave it all together in such a way as to make plain that the Messiah of Israel, the Christ over all, was none other than Jesus of Nazareth.
Jesus was descended (in part) from the line of Ahab, of the tribe of Ephraim—thus fulfilling the stupendous promises made to Joseph through Jacob and Moses (Gen. 48:3ff; Dt. 33:13ff). He was Messiah ben Joseph. Jesus was descended (in part) from Levi, in that Mary was a Zadokite (a relative of Elizabeth, recall). And He was also Messiah ben David, of the tribe of Judah as attested in multiple places. So God promised a Savior for the world, and He also, by many different means, identified Him for us clearly. Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.
The source for most of this is Jesus: The Incarnation of the Word by David Mitchell (Campbell Publications, 2021).
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When Jesus had spoken these words, He went out with His disciples over the Brook Kidron, where there was a garden, which He and His disciples entered. And Judas, who betrayed Him, also knew the place; for Jesus often met there with His disciples. Then Judas, having received a detachment of troops, and officers from the chief priests and Pharisees, came there with lanterns, torches, and weapons. Jesus therefore, knowing all things that would come upon Him, went forward and said to them, “Whom are you seeking?”
They answered Him, “Jesus of Nazareth.”
Jesus said to them, “I am He.” And Judas, who betrayed Him, also stood with them. Now when He said to them, “I am He,” they drew back and fell to the ground.
Then He asked them again, “Whom are you seeking?”
And they said, “Jesus of Nazareth.”
Jesus answered, “I have told you that I am He. Therefore, if you seek Me, let these go their way,” that the saying might be fulfilled which He spoke, “Of those whom You gave Me I have lost none.”
Then Simon Peter, having a sword, drew it and struck the high priest’s servant, and cut off his right ear. The servant’s name was Malchus.
So Jesus said to Peter, “Put your sword into the sheath. Shall I not drink the cup which My Father has given Me?”
Then the detachment of troops and the captain and the officers of the Jews arrested Jesus and bound Him. And they led Him away to Annas first, for he was the father-in-law of Caiaphas who was high priest that year. Now it was Caiaphas who advised the Jews that it was expedient that one man should die for the people.
And Simon Peter followed Jesus, and so did another disciple. Now that disciple was known to the high priest, and went with Jesus into the courtyard of the high priest. But Peter stood at the door outside. Then the other disciple, who was known to the high priest, went out and spoke to her who kept the door, and brought Peter in. Then the servant girl who kept the door said to Peter, “You are not also one of this Man’s disciples, are you?”
He said, “I am not.”
Now the servants and officers who had made a fire of coals stood there, for it was cold, and they warmed themselves. And Peter stood with them and warmed himself.
The high priest then asked Jesus about His disciples and His doctrine.
Jesus answered him, “I spoke openly to the world. I always taught in synagogues and in the temple, where the Jews always meet, and in secret I have said nothing. Why do you ask Me? Ask those who have heard Me what I said to them. Indeed they know what I said.”
And when He had said these things, one of the officers who stood by struck Jesus with the palm of his hand, saying, “Do You answer the high priest like that?”
Jesus answered him, “If I have spoken evil, bear witness of the evil; but if well, why do you strike Me?”
Then Annas sent Him bound to Caiaphas the high priest.
Now Simon Peter stood and warmed himself. Therefore they said to him, “You are not also one of His disciples, are you?”
He denied it and said, “I am not!”
One of the servants of the high priest, a relative of him whose ear Peter cut off, said, “Did I not see you in the garden with Him?” Peter then denied again; and immediately a rooster crowed (John 18:1–27).
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We are now at the beginning of the last cycle of Micah’s prophecy. Remember that the pattern is one of warning, judgment, and consolation. We see in this section the testimony of Jehovah, in which He sets out the reasons for the judgment coming down upon Judah and Israel. It is a fearsome judgment indeed.
“Hear ye now what the Lord saith; Arise, contend thou before the mountains, And let the hills hear thy voice. Hear ye, O mountains, the Lord’s controversy, And ye strong foundations of the earth: For the Lord hath a controversy with his people, And he will plead with Israel. O my people, what have I done unto thee? And wherein have I wearied thee? Testify against me . . .” (Micah 6:1–16).
The prophet has been speaking to a senseless people, and so now Jehovah has told them to go preach to the rocks instead (v. 1). Even the stones of the mountains will listen better than Judea and Israel did, and they will sit in the jury box, as the Lord lays out His case against His people (v. 2). God, speaking in a figure, as though He could fit inside a courtroom, asks them to testify as to what wrong He has committed against them (v. 3). Jehovah plays at defendant.
God redeemed them from the slavery of Egypt, and gave them Moses, Aaron and Miriam as leaders (v. 4). He then prevented Balaam from cursing them, as Balak wanted him to (v. 5). Speaking for the people, he asks about what they might think to bring to God—burnt offerings, rams, rivers of oil? Perhaps their own firstborn (vv. 6-7)? No—it is much more straightforward than that. Do justice, love mercy, and walk in humility before God (v. 8).
Jehovah cries out to the city, and a wise man knows where the rod is coming from (v. 9). Do not the wicked have a great treasury, filled with the profits gained with a short measure and crooked scales (vv. 10-11)? Her rich men are full of violence, and the people have a mouthful of lies (v. 12). And this is why God will strike them (v. 13). They will eat, but not be filled (v. 14). What they manage to salvage out of the wreckage will be taken from them later (v. 14). They will also experience true vanity in their agriculture (v. 15). And why? Because they decided to follow the doctrines of Omri (Ahab’s father) and Ahab they will be left desolate, and will be reproached with hissing (v. 16).
When Micah brings his testimony, the hypocrites who listen to him are pretending to engage. Jehovah says that rocks would listen better than they do, and yet they try to prove Him wrong by making a show through religious bustling. What shall we offer to God that will prove our devotion? Rivers of oil? Our own first born? No. God wants you, and not some sacrifice swapped in instead of you. That is an extortion payment, not religious worship.
Hypocrites behave as though the God of Heaven is petty and simple, like some cranky toddler in a stroller, and that it is somehow possible to distract Him with baubles and trifles. Here, play with this, they seem to say.
No. God wants the heart. He has always wanted the heart. He has never settled for anything less than your heart. Rend your hearts, not your garments (Joel 2:13). Circumcise your hearts (Jer. 4:4). To obey is better than sacrifice (1 Sam. 15:22). Sacrifices and burnt offerings you did not require (Ps. 40:6). Go and find out what this means, Jesus said (Matt. 9:13). I desire mercy and not sacrifice (Hos. 6:6). And the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings (Hos. 6:6).
Hypocrites love paint their sins with the whitewash of religious scrupulosity. But two inches of white snow on a dunghill is a dunghill still, and you shouldn’t try to sled on it.
What particular sin is in view in this passage? There were numerous sins, no doubt, but what sins are in view here. The problem here was dishonesty in business. When the rod comes to give these hustlers their beat down, the wise man knows the reason for it (v. 9). Was it not their short measure (v. 10)? Wicked scales and deceitful weights (v. 11)? When they open their mouths, lies come fluttering out, like hundreds of moths (v. 12). That is why God is striking them, making them desolate (v. 13).
What does God actually want from us? There are three verbs—do, love, and walk (v. 8). Do justly. Love mercy. Walk with humility before your God.
When you make a judgment, it must be an honest assessment, not a partisan decision. It is not enough to do mercy, grudgingly dragged out of you. No, you must love mercy (hesed). It is this pairing, incidentally, that gives the lie to so many today who are trumpeting what they call “social justice.” It is not justice at all because biblical justice loves mercy, and those commies are merciless—without pity, without forgiveness, without tenderness, without compassion. In short, without Christ.
The third characteristic of this godly demeanor is that of walking humbly with God. God is the absolute ground of all goodness, all value, and so we must submit to Him. We must submit to His definition of justice. We must embrace His sacrificial commitment to mercy. We must submit to the God who is the ground of all objective truth, goodness, and beauty.
And this means Christ. Who displays the justice of God? Christ on the cross, wracked with pain because of His Father’s hatred of sin. Who displays the mercy of God? Christ on the cross, embracing our sin and folly so that He could carry it all down the grave. Who displays the humility of God? Christ on the cross, who summons us to take up our cross and follow Him. If we do follow Him in this way, we can be assured that we will do justly, love mercy, and walk with humility. And unlike the religious liars and thieves of ancient Judea and Israel, we will not try to bribe God to look the other way because we put on some sort of a religious show.