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<2020.10> The Book of the Genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham

2006 European Bible Study Meeting
October 30th, 2006, Afternoon
Also it shall be, when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write for himself a copy of this law in a book, from the one before the priests, the Levites. And it shall be with him, and he shall read it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the Lord his God and be careful to observe all the words of this law and these statutes, that his heart may not be lifted above his brethren, that he may not turn aside from the commandment to the right hand or to the left, and that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he and his children in the midst of Israel. Deuteronomy 17:18-20
Abraham, David, and Jesus Christ
 We have been studying the Bible, on the basis of a verse that we have come to know well: “The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham” (Matthew 1:1). This time we will be examining through history the promises made to Abraham.
 We often talk of people in terms of their family line, and they themselves will tell you they belong to a certain famous family or they are a descendant of some great person of the past. When a person boasts of his family line, he will usually name just one of his ancestors. Yet this passage is unique in that it says of Jesus that He was “the Son of David, the Son of Abraham.” There will not be many people in this world who have a genealogy like this. It would be like saying, “There was a famous person, someone like Edison, in my family two thousand years ago, and then about one thousand years after that there was an even more famous person amongst my ancestors, someone like Rockefeller. So I am the son of Edison and Rockefeller.”
 The people referred to in the sentence, “The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham” lived two, three, and four thousand years ago respectively. They appeared in the course of history at one-thousand-year intervals. Why did God refer to these two people as He was explaining Jesus? There is much for us to consider even in regard to this one verse. God spoke the words of just this one verse to us, but in order for us to understand these words, we need to examine and understand many other verses.
 As we read the Bible, we find that God often said the same thing twice. He said something, and then He said it again. This is true of the promises He made to Abraham. Also, in John’s Gospel when the adulterous woman was brought before Jesus, He stooped down and wrote on the ground. Then He stood up and said to the Jews, “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first,” and then He stooped down and wrote on the ground again. (see 8:1-9) Jesus’ actions here were really quite strange. Why did He do this twice?
 In Galatians chapter 4, we find reference to two covenants. The first of these is the law, which was given to the Jews and written down over a long period of time by the prophets who were moved by God to do this. The second covenant exceeds by far the requirements of the first and was accomplished through Jesus Christ whom God sent to us. We have already seen how God spoke to Abraham of this truth that was originally in His heart, and then He spoke of it to him again, in order that what he had believed might be accomplished.
 Two men appear in the verse that says, “The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham.” First, let’s talk about Abraham, through the life of Abraham, God spoke of the plan that was in His heart to give a gift to mankind through Christ. In certain respects, God’s heart that is revealed throughout the Bible is to be seen in the life of this one man, Abraham.
 Through the incident in which Abraham offered up his son as a sacrifice before God, we can know something of the heart of God who sent His Son into the world for our sake and delivered up the body of His Son in order to deal with the sin of the world. Then Jesus came to this world and carried out this task Himself.
Soldiers in their mockery
Wove a crown of thorns.
Pierced His hands and pierced His feet
To nail Him to the cross.
Jesus died to save us from
The wrath of Judgment Day,
From the path to condemnation,
From the path to death.
The Heavens and the Earth were Dimmed, Translation from Korean,
     author unknown
 The heart of God the Father is revealed through Abraham as he went up the mountain with the fire and a knife in his hand, and taking his son, Isaac, to offer him as a sacrifice. In this, we have an image of Jesus—God the Son—who came in the flesh and delivered up His body to be sacrificed. Then, who was this Jesus who died in this way? It is in David that we can find the answer.
 David was born into this world about one thousand years after Abraham. What sort of person was he? In the genealogy in Matthew chapter 1 it says, “Jesse begot David the king” (verse 6). In this genealogy, David is the only person who is referred to as a king. It says, “David the king.”
 After Jesus had been crucified and risen from the dead, He met two of His disciples.
Now behold, two of them were traveling that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was seven miles from Jerusalem. And they talked together of all these things which had happened. So it was, while they conversed and reasoned, that Jesus Himself drew near and went with them. But their eyes were restrained, so that they did not know Him. Luke 24:13-16
 The soldiers had scourged Jesus, His face was covered in wounds, and His whole body covered in blood, so now that He had risen from the dead in His glorious body, it seems these disciples did not recognize Him.
And He said to them, “What kind of conversation is this that you have with one another as you walk and are sad?” Then the one whose name was Cleopas answered and said to Him, “Are You the only stranger in Jerusalem, and have You not known the things which happened there in these days?” And He said to them, “What things?” So they said to Him, “The things concerning Jesus of Nazareth, who was a Prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered Him to be condemned to death, and crucified Him. But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel. Indeed, besides all this, today is the third day since these things happened. Yes, and certain women of our company, who arrived at the tomb early, astonished us. When they did not find His body, they came saying that they had also seen a vision of angels who said He was alive. And certain of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said; but Him they did not see.” Then He said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?” And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself. Luke 24:17-27
 Once Jesus had suffered, that was not the end. The entire Bible is telling us that it was only after Jesus had suffered that He would enter into His glory. The Bible says that Jesus “was delivered up because of our offenses, and was raised because of our justification (Romans 4:25). There is an order to these things. The Bible is telling us that Jesus died because of our sin, and He rose from the dead in order that we might have eternal life. There are two parts to this.
 Similarly, through David, God showed us Jesus coming to us as King. “The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham.” Within this one short verse, we have this order of first Jesus in His suffering, and then Jesus when He comes again in His glory as King of kings.
 Within the genealogy beginning with Abraham and continuing on to David, we are continually presented with shadows of many incidents that would occur later in this world. As the Bible says, “He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name” (John 1:11-12). Jesus came to His own land, but His own people rejected Him. He came and walked in the land of the Jews and He spoke to the Jews, but they did not acknowledge that He was their King, and they had Him put to death. Nevertheless, He rose from the dead and ascended into heaven. We do not know exactly when it will be, but the Bible contains the promise that someday, at a certain point in time, Jesus will come to this world again.
 One of the hymns we sing includes the lines, “And Lord, haste the day when the faith shall be sight, the clouds be rolled back as a scroll; the trump shall resound and the Lord shall descend” (When peace, like a river, attendeth my way by H.G.Spafford), and in the book of Revelation it says, “Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him” (1:7). Jesus Christ suffered at the hands of His own people as His short life on this earth came to an end, but the Bible tells us that the time will come when He returns to this world as the true King holding the sovereign power, and the Israelites who put Him to death will mourn. It was as a shadow of this glorious King that David rose up to be king of Israel.
 Yet, something happened before David became king that demonstrates once more just how accurate the Bible is. Was David the first king of Israel? He was not. Saul was king before him. Similarly, the Israelites will repeat the mistake they made in making Saul their king. This will be in respect to the person who is often referred to as the antichrist. Jesus came as King, and after He was crucified, history continued to unfold, but as the time approaches for His second coming, the people of this world will look up to and support another person, whom they will think must be the Messiah. Just as they are worshiping him as their messiah, Jesus will return in the air. This may all sound like a novel but it will definitely happen in this world. This order of events was prophesied to take place within the history of Israel.
The History of the Church which Was Prophesied amongst the Israelites
 The twins, Esau and Jacob, had been born to Isaac, the son of Abraham. One day when he returned from hunting, he found his younger brother Jacob preparing a stew of lentils. Being hungry, Esau asked Jacob for some of his stew, and Jacob agreed to give it to him in return for his birthright. Esau said, “Sure, you can have it. I’m dying of hunger right now, so what use is my birthright to me?” And he gave his birthright to Jacob. This is exactly what the Israelites did when they had Jesus crucified. The promise was made to them first, but they rejected it. This image is to be seen first of all in Esau.
 Later, when Isaac was old, he summoned Esau and said to him, “I could die at any time now. Make me the savoury food that I love and bring it to me that I may bless you.” Esau went out hunting so that he could make the savoury food for his father and receive the blessing. While his elder brother was away, however, Jacob slaughtered an animal, and, with the help of his mother, prepared the savoury food for his father. He took the skins of the animal that had been slaughtered and put them on his hands and his neck, and went in and received the blessing from his blind father. Jacob, whose name was later changed to Israel, is a shadow of the church. There is no way that the Israelites can see this since they do not acknowledge the New Testament.
 Having received the blessing from his father in this way, Jacob fled from his brother and went and lived in the land of his relatives. He lived there for 22 years, and he had eleven sons there. Benjamin, the twelfth son, was born as Jacob was on his way back to the land of Canaan.
 Joseph, Jacob’s eleventh son, was always having dreams. In one of his dreams, they were all binding sheaves in the field and his brother’s sheaves bowed down to his sheaf, and in another dream, the sun the moon and eleven stars all bowed down to him. When Joseph told his dreams to his brothers, they were jealous and hated him and said, “Shall you indeed reign over us?” In the end, Joseph’s brothers sold him to some traders who were on their way down to Egypt. Then they took Joseph’s tunic, dipped it in the blood of an animal, and took it back to their father. When their father saw the tunic, he thought Joseph had been killed by a wild animal and he mourned for his son for many
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