Advent: December 2nd

Onto the “Begats”!  Begat means to bring something (or in this case someone) about. It means that when Abraham begat Isaac, that Isaac was the son, or offspring, of Abraham.  There is a long list (42 names) of who gave birth from Abraham to Jesus in Matthew chapter 1.  In fact, there are 3 larger groups; the first, Abraham to David, the second David to Josiah, and the third Jechoniah to Jesus.  This list is not meant to be an exhaustive list of all dependents but one we can follow through Israel’s history to indeed verify that Jesus was from the line of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and David.  This is important to establish that Jesus is the Messiah since the one who comes must be able to show these lines if prophecy is to be fulfilled. For many years this list was precisely just that to me- a family tree.

But there is something special about this list that would have caught the attention of an ancient’s ears and brought them to see that there was much more to the list than ancestral names.   See if you can spot it!

(I would recommend listening to Andrew Peterson’s song, Matthew’s Begats, or read it directly from Matthew chapter 1.)

Matthew’s genealogy includes the names of 5 women!  This was not how records were kept or even spoken about in ancient times.  Who are these women and why are they-despite their gender- so important to be mentioned?

Let’s see.

The first woman mentioned is Tamar. Tamar was a -daughter-in-law to Judah, one of Jacob’s 12 sons. She was married to Judah’s first-born of three sons named Ur(Eye-er).  The Bible tells us he was a wicked man, so wicked that the Lord put him to death. (Genesis 38:7) In the Bible, it was shameful for women to be barren. Children were seen as a special blessing from God. They were one’s heritage that carried the family name. Children were the means by which parents could be taken care of in their old age and, in a very real sense, they were the means by which God’s promises would be fulfilled. A common practice then was that when a woman’s husband died (being that she was of birthing age and childless) she would marry a brother from her deceased husband’s family.  This would ensure the family line remained intact and still provide an heir and security for that woman.  When this happened the male relative who stepped in was called a kinsman redeemer and the marriage was called a levirate marriage. Any children who came from this union would bear the deceased husband’s name.  So Tamar is given to Judah’s second son, her brother-in-law, in this way. Yet, he also treats her deplorably, and does what he can to keep her from being able to conceive.  God sees this and also puts him to death for his wickedness. Tamar is then left to live in her father’s house because Judah’s third son is too young to be a kinsman redeemer. By the time this son would be old enough she would be beyond her prime birthing years.

So Tamar hatches a plan. She dresses herself up as a temple prostitute and sets a trap for her father-in-law, Judah. Keep in mind, Tamar has every right by the law to bear a child for Judah’s family line but she is overlooked and treated like an object again, and again.  Unfortunately, Judah treats her no different, but Tamar is prepared. She not only becomes pregnant with two twin boys, Perez and Zerah, but also secures her protection from Judah! The way in which these children came was quite scandalous and her methods were desperate. Why would she be named in Jesus’s genealogy?

The second woman listed is Rehab.  Rehab was a Canaanite prostitute living in Jericho during the time that Israel came into the promised land to conquer its inhabitants.  She was the one who hid the two Israelite spies on her roof. In exchange for her aid, she and her household were spared. She was instructed to shut her family up inside the house and hang a red rope from her window. This was a similar picture to the passover in Egypt, where the Israelites' first born were spared if they had placed the blood of the lamb on the doorposts of the house. As it was, Rehab was grafted into the family of God. She became an Israelite, married and bore children, and happily loved and served the one true God!

The first thing that we can see from this list of women is that God has welcomed the outsider. If you have ever felt as though you were beyond God’s reach, that you were either too broken, or too far away for God to save you; take these womens’ stories as an encouragement.  We serve a  powerful God who can do greater things than we imagine.

Psalm 51:17 says, “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.”