The book of Matthew starts out with the genealogy of Jesus Christ. Genealogies were very important for ancient Jews because they revealed the origin of a person and his/her pedigree. Matthew, inspired of the Holy Spirit, also took time to enlighten us on the origin of the Son of God (Matthew 1:1-17). Record of this genealogy is unusual because it includes women, yet genealogies ordinarily recorded men only. According to Nick Peters (2013), this must have been purposeful. Also noteworthy is that despite their being various, re-known women who seemed worth a mention (Sarah, Rebekkah, Leah, Rachel, etc.), Matthew chose to specifically mention five women in the genealogy of Jesus.
Tamar is the first woman mentioned in the genealogy, and she is referred to as the mother of Perez (verse 3). A whole chapter is dedicated to Tamar’s life account in Genesis 38 and it is surprising that Matthew chose to include this woman with a shameful past, in the genealogy of Jesus. Tamar was Judah’s daughter-in-law, and her husband was called Er. However, Er was a wicked man and for this reason, God put him to death. This not only left Tamar as a young widow, but also childless. Judah gave her to Er’s brother, Onan, to lie with him so as to produce offspring for her husband. However, Onan would lie with Tamar but spill his semen on the ground to keep her from producing an offspring. This was wicked in God’s eyes and Onan too was put to death by God. Despite Judah having a younger son, he intentionally refused to give Tamar to this son for fear that he too might die like his brothers. Tamar was resolute about getting an offspring and she therefore disguised herself as a prostitute and lay with her father-in-law, Judah, and she conceived twins: Perez and Zerah.
Tamar was a woman acquainted with pain and grief for she suffered loss of her husband; she was unjustly treated by her brother-in-law by using her to satisfy his sexual desires yet choosing not to fulfill his duty as a kinsman redeemer; she was disappointed by her father-in-law for failing to keep his word of giving her to his youngest son; she must have also felt rejected by the closest people in her life, her family. Tamar had patiently waited at her father-in-law’s house for her to be officially given to Shellah, the husband’s youngest brother, but when this did not happen, she devised a wicked scheme. It seems that she was a strong willed woman who was not about to let go of her desire to have children. However, in so doing, she committed a wicked deed whose punishment was death. In all these, God’s grace (unmerited favor) prevailed and Tamar not only bore twins, but her first son is in the genealogy of Jesus Christ!
Tamar is not the kind of woman that you expect to be in the genealogy of Jesus, and yet she is. She is a perfect demonstration of God’s grace upon our lives, that in spite of how far we have fallen, God still looks at us with compassion and His love for us endures. God turns our shame into honor; our pain into joy; our struggles into victories! Indeed, He is a Loving, Merciful and Gracious Father!
The second woman mentioned in Jesus’ genealogy is Rahab (verse 5). This woman is described as a prostitute severally in scripture: Joshua 2:1; 6:22, 25; Hebrews 11:31; James 2:25. Humanly speaking, we can excuse Tamar for her actions that perhaps were as a result of pressures from her circumstances; but excusing Rahab is difficult considering she had plunged herself into a lifestyle of sexual immorality and earned herself a title “the prostitute”. She is the kind of person that would be considered by many as “beyond help”. Yet, despite having a shameful title as a name tag, this woman seemed to have gotten a revelation of the God of Israel, and based on that faith, she responded by hiding the two spies. God had been working on her heart through the testimonies that she was receiving about God’s mighty workings amongst the children of Israel. This led her to confess, “…for the Lord your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below.”
God is at work in the hearts of many people that society might have written off as “beyond repair” and is drawing them to Himself. John 6:37b states, “…and whoever comes to me I will never drive away.” No one is too sinful to be accepted into God’s Kingdom, for to all who believe in God, He gives them power to become children of God. How did Rahab receive spiritual sight to correctly interpret the mighty workings of God and believe in Him? It was God at work; it is purely a work of grace where God despite being Holy and Perfect, reaches out to us in our filthy state and brings us into His wonderful Kingdom of light.
Rahab’s actions (she did not pursue the two spies to lie with her; she acted out of faith in and reverence for the God of Israel) and confessions of her revelation of God in Joshua 2, demonstrate a converted heart. Notwithstanding, she continued to bear the tag, “the prostitute”- see Joshua 6:22 & 25. Thank God that we are not made God’s children based on recommendation reports by men, because many of us would have never been made Sons of the Most High God. When we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, we are made a new creation; the old is gone and the new comes (2nd Corinthians 5:17).
Rahab was a Gentile- an Amonite- and yet her actions of faith led her and her entire family to not only be spared physical death, but also to become a part of God’s children (Joshua 6:25c) and enter the lineage of the Messiah. Through the work of calvary, God has made us who were not a people to become His chosen people; a royal priesthood; a holy nation; and a people belonging to Him (1st Peter 2:9).
Rahab is mentioned twice in the New Testament and in both incidences, she is used as an example to teach believers about faith (Hebrews 11:31 and James 2:25). She features in the “hall of faith” with spiritual patriarchs such as Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph and Moses. Just like apostle Paul, Rahab teaches us that as long as our hearts turn to God in true repentance, He gives us a new beginning that is not tied or restrained by our past, because that past is thrown by our Father into the sea of forgetfulness. By His grace, God granted Rahab a godly lineage that would influence kingdoms for God’s purposes: Boaz, Obed, Jesse, David, Solomon etc. and for His glory!
Ruth is the third woman mentioned in the lineage of Jesus and a whole book is written in the Old Testament to give us her life’s account. There are numerous lessons to learn from this young Moabite woman whose life was so much impacted by the God of Israel that she recklessly abandoned herself to Him, in total surrender. Ruth got married in a family of Jews, Ephrathites from Bethlehem, and it is most likely that her interaction with them introduced her to the God of Israel. Her marriage was short-lived because it was cut off by her husband’s death. She not only lost a husband, but also the father-in-law and the brother-in-law, all who were supposed to give her an identity and provide for her material needs as a woman. Even more painful was perhaps the thought that she had no offspring to show for her years of marriage. In the midst of all these, Ruth also had to live with a bitter mother-in-law, Naomi, who changed her name to Mara because she blamed God for her misfortunes.
Ruth’s life seemed doomed, but through the Spirit she saw beyond her current circumstances and chose to be identified with the God of Israel: “Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God.” Once they arrived back at Bethlehem, Ruth dedicated her efforts to taking care of her mother-in-law, though young and perhaps having numerous dreams and ambitions. She remained submitted to Naomi’s authority and even when she met Boaz, she did not step ahead of God to act as a desperate woman in dire need of a kinsman redeemer. On the contrary, she listened to her mother’s counsel and waited for God’s appointed time to fulfill His purpose. Ruth’s character can be summarized as submitted and obedient, both to earthly authority and God. This woman’s absolute surrender to God is an encouragement to us, to rest in God’s arm despite of our present circumstances. Our future is secure in God’s hands!
Uriah’s wife is the fourth woman mentioned in the genealogy of Jesus. For some unknown reason, Matthew does not disclose the name of the woman, but we know from 2nd Samuel 11-12, Uriah’s wife was called Bathsheba. King David lay with Bathsheba when his husband Uriah was out in the battle field and from this act, she conceived. Because David wanted to conceal his sinful act, he planned for Uriah’s execution in the battle field. David then took Bathsheba as his wife, though God was very displeased with this act and struck the child born out of this act dead. Psalms 51 was written when prophet Nathan confronted David with his sin and we see David earnestly crying out to God in repentance. Thereafter, they bore another son called Solomon, and scriptures record that this son was so loved by God that He instructed through prophet Nathan that he be called Jedidah- which means “loved by the Lord.”
David repented of his adulterous actions (Psalms 51) with Bathsheba and God forgave Him. Their subsequent union as husband and wife bore Solomon, a son who would not only succeed his father’s kingdom, but also carry on the lineage of the Messiah. God is Sovereign & He chooses whosoever He wishes for His glory. Between two twin brothers, Esau and Jacob, God chose to form a godly nation- Israel- out of Jacob’s offspring. Out of the twelve sons of Jacob, God chose to use Joseph for His purpose in delivering the Israelites from drought. God chose to use Moses, a hot-tempered murderer, with a stammering tongue to deliver the Israelites from Egypt. God chose to use Gideon to deliver the Israelites from their enemies, despite being the least in his family, which was least in his clan. God anointed the last born of Jesse, a young shepherd boy as King over Israel and chose to use him to slay Goliath despite his inexperience.
God uses the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; He uses the weak things of the world to shame the strong (1st Corinthians 1:27). Man looks at our outward appearance, our past failures, our inabilities and shortcomings. God looks at our hearts and calls us as He sees us! Despite Gideon exhibiting much timidity and fear, God called him “might man of valor”! Solomon did not deserve to inherit his father’s throne, but he did. Many of us, if not all, do not deserve many things that we have received from God. This revelation should keep us humble, for we have received nothing other than what has been given us from heaven (John 3:27). All that we are, and all that we will ever be, is attributable to God.
The last woman to be mentioned in the genealogy of Jesus is His mother, Mary. Nothing is told in scripture about Mary, prior to being betrothed to Joseph her husband. No mention is given of her parents, her home city or even herself as a person. Perhaps Mary was an unknown young girl at the time and only one thing is certain to us about her, she lived a righteous life. When the angel of the Lord was sent to deliver a message regarding Jesus’ birth to Mary, in Luke 1:28, this is how she greeted her: “Greetings, you who are highly favoured! The Lord is with you.” In fact in her song in Luke 1:46-55, she stated, “… for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed.” This reminds me of Queen Esther, the orphan Jewish girl who rose to royalty in a foreign land, Persia- not for her own sake but for God’ glory. Yet again, God was looking for a righteous woman for the fulfillment of His purpose, and Mary was available to be used of Him. In fact in her response to the angel’s message she said, “I am the Lord’s servant, …, may it be to me as you have said.”
The women in Jesus’ genealogy were ordinary women just like us and were unlikely to shape the course of history. They are in the Savior’s genealogy to give us hope, and to foreshadow the kind of people Jesus came to save (Nell Sunkunjian, 2017). I am sure you can identify with one of the women in this genealogy- poor, a misfit, a widow/ widower, unimportant, unknown, sinful. God shows no partiality and will use us to accomplish His purpose and make us the splendour of His glory, if we absolutely surrender our lives to Him and choose the path of righteousness.
2nd Chronicles 16:9a
“For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him.”
