A Study of Ecclesiastes (From My Blog)

A Study of Matthew (From my Findingauthenticchristianity.com)

The Context of Matthew

For the next few weeks, we’ll be studying the book of Matthew chapter-by-chapter on this website. However, before we study a book of the Bible, it’s critical to understand the context surrounding the book. Otherwise, we can miss its meaning.

Who wrote the book? Matthew (or Levi) was a Jewish tax collector who became one of Jesus’ disciples. Tax collectors were the most hated people in Jewish society during this time because they were usually corrupt. However, after Levi met Jesus and began following him, his life was radically transformed by the life-changing power of Christ.

Who was the intended audience? Each of the four gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) was written for a different audience so that everyone would have a gospel account that could connect with them in a unique way. Matthew wrote this book especially for the Jews. It’s easy to see this as one reads the opening chapter, the geneology of Jesus. By showing how Jesus was a direct descendent of the key family tree in the Old Testment (Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, King David, etc.), the book of Matthew is the perfect link between the Old Testament and New Testament.

Why was the book written? The primary reason Matthew wrote his gospel account was to prove to his fellow Jews that Jesus is the Messiah and to explain God’s kingdom. The Jewish culture knew the Old Testament well, and they would understand the importance of Jesus’ ancestral tree better than we do (although we’ll explore parts of it this next week). It would be difficult for any Jew to read the book of Matthew and not believe Jesus is the Son of God. In the times of the Old Testament, the prophesies about the coming Messiah were mysterious, but when one with OT knowledge reads the book of Matthew, it’s like someone has flipped on the light switch to reveal the mystery of Christ the King!

Matthew 1: “The Women in Jesus’ Lineage”

Matthew opens the New Testament by setting the local story of Jesus in its world historical context. He makes sure that as we read his account of the birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus, we see how they connect with everything that has gone before.

Think about how in today’s world, we don’t really know who each other’s great-great-grandparents are. Well, that’s the way it was during Jesus’ time. No one knew who Jesus’ great-great-grandparents were. However, when Matthew shared Jesus’ genealogy, it would have been eye opening to the reader to discover that Jesus’ ancestors included the main family followed in the Old Testament. Their thought would have been: “Oh my goodness, Jesus really is the promised Messiah!”

The book of Matthew opens like this: “A record of the geneology of Jesus Christ the son of David, the son of Abraham: Abraham was the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob, Jacob the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar…”

We could spend years just studying the lineage of Jesus and who his grandparents were. After all, that’s what the entire Old Testament is about! We’re not going to discuss his entire family here, but we will take the next week talking about one of the most intriguing parts of his lineage in Matthew.

When family trees were written down during Matthew’s day, usually only the men were listed. That’s why it’s especially unusual that four women were included by the author in Jesus’ family tree.

Tomorrow, we’ll look at Tamar, the first woman mentioned in the New Testament!

“God of Justice” from Matthew 1 (by Chad)

The first lady we see from Jesus’ geneology is Tamar, and we find her story in Genesis 38. Tamar is a picture of God’s justice. In this story, Judah found Tamar and arranged for her to marry his firstborn, Er. Er was evil, and the Lord had him put to death. As was custom during this time, Judah then had his second son, Onan, marry Tamar to take care of her. Onan also did something evil in the eyes of the Lord, and God had him put to death.

Judah was concerned that Tamar would cause the death of his third son, Shelah, and so he had her move in with her father until Shelah could grow up and take care of her. He promised that when Shelah grew old enough, he would return to have Shelah take care of Tamar.

However, Judah never kept his promise. Shelah grew up, but Judah never came for Tamar. She saw him in town one day and pretended she was a prostitute so that she could sleep with Judah and be taken care of (widows had no possessions in those days and were dependent on someone to take care of them). To make a long story short, Judah got Tamar pregnant, and their son was the great-great-(several more greats)-grandfather of Jesus.

This shameful series of events would normally never be noted in someone’s ancestral lineage during Jesus’ day. However, God included it by having Matthew note it in Jesus’ lineage. Clearly God wanted us to know something about him when we read it. This story reminds us that although we are unfaithful, God is faithful. We don’t keep our promises, but God always does. He is the one and only God of Justice.

In what ways have you been unfaithful to God by breaking your promises or being disobedient? Confess your sin to God, and allow him to cleanse you and heal your brokenness. Make a new commitment to remain faithful to God and worship him in the way that he deserves. Be faithful to God because God is faithful. He’s always faithful to us!

“Saved by Rahab” from Matthew 1 (by Chad)

“Perez the father of Hezron, Hezron the father of Ram, Ram the father of Amminidab, Amminidab the father of Nahshon, Nahshon the father of Salmon, Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab…” (Matthew 1:3a-5a)

We continue on with the lineage of Jesus by studying the story of Rahab from Joshua 2. Rahab was a prostitute living in Jericho at the time when the Israelites were entering the Promised Land. Forty years earlier, Moses had sent Joshua and other spies into the land to check it out before they entered it. All of the spies except Joshua and Caleb feared the Canaanites and gave a terrifying report that led the Israelites to disobey God by settling in the dessert. As a result, no one except Joshua and Caleb lived to see the day when the Israelites entered the Promised Land.

When Joshua sent spies this second time forty years later, they encountered Rahab, the Gentile prostitute. Rahab feared the Lord and saved the lives of the spies by hiding them. Not only did she save their lives, but her words gave the Israelites the courage to be obedient to the Lord and enter the Promised Land.

Listen to the words of Rahab: “I know that the Lord has given this land to you and that a great fear of you has fallen on us, so that all who live in this country are melting in fear because of you. We have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to Shiloh and Og, the two kings of the Amorites east of the Jordan, whom you completely destroyed. When we heard of it, our hearts melted and everyone’s courage failed because of you, for the Lord your God is God in heaven above and on earth below.” (Joshua 2:9-11)

Because of her fear of the Lord and her trust in him, God saved Rahab and her family from destruction. He also added Rahab the prostitute into the family tree of Jesus, as a reminder of his faithfulness to us.

In what ways have you taken steps of faith like Rahab and put your trust in God? In what ways have you been unfaithful (like the Israelites the first time they were told to enter the land)?

Spend some time praising God for his faithfulness despite mankind’s unfaithfulness. Recommit your life to him today, asking him to forgive you of your sin and to fill you with his presence. With God’s strength, we can be faithful to the Lord by remembering the gospel – the good news that Jesus died for our unfaithfulness – and abiding in him.

“Lady Number Three” by Chad Young

“And Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab, and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse…” (Matthew 1:5)

The third woman listed in Jesus’ lineage from Matthew 1 is Ruth. Of course, the story of Ruth was well documented in the book of Ruth, one of the sweetest stories that took place during the time of judges in the Old Testament.

The book of Ruth as well her inclusion in Jesus’ lineage is significant. The theme of the book of Judges is summed up in the last verse of the book: “In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as he saw fit”. During this period of several hundred years of Israel’s history, there was a spiritual downward spiral experienced by the Israelites. The people grew further and further from the Lord, and everyone did what was right in their own eyes…nearly everyone, that is. Although she was a Gentile (an enemy of God and the Israelites), Ruth did what was right in God’s eyes.

Ruth came into God’s family when two Jews, Elimelech and Naomi, went to live in Moab because of a great famine in the land. Naomi had two sons, and one of them married Ruth. When Elimelech and his two sons died, Naomi decided to go back to Israel. She told her two daughter-in-laws that they were free to stay in their people’s land, and Ruth’s response is one of the most memorable verses in the Old Testament: “Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God.” (Ruth 1:16)

God hand-picked Ruth to be Jesus’ great-great-(a few more greats)-grandmother because she trusted in the Lord during a time when few followed him. She was faithful to God, and she’s a picture of what it means to surrender our lives fully to him.

Spend some time praising God for his faithfulness. While we live in a time when so many are unfaithful to him, he is still faithful, and he rewards those who are faithful to him. Confess any sin these verses bring to mind, and make a commitment to be faithful to God today. Be faithful to God because he is faithful to never give up on us, even when we are unfaithful to him.

“The Fourth Lady in Matthew 1″ by Chad

It’s so interesting to study the women in Jesus’ lineage from Matthew 1. So far we’ve looked at Tamar, Rahab and Ruth, and today we’ll look at another intriguing character handpicked by God to be in Jesus’ family tree – Bathsheba.

“And David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah, and Solomon the father of Rehoboam…” (Matthew 1:6-7)

It’s interesting to note Bathsheba’s name isn’t even mentioned in Matthew. She’s just referred to as “Uriah’s wife”. We find the story of Bathsheba in 2 Samuel 11.

“In the spring of the year, the time when kings go out into battle, David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel. And they ravaged the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem. It happened, late one afternoon, when David arose from his couch and was walking on the roof of the king’s house, that he saw from the roof a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful.” (2 Samuel 11:1-2)

To make a long story short, Bathsheba was the wife of Uriah, one of the men in David’s army. David slept with Bathsheba while Uriah was off at war (like David should have been), and he got her pregnant. Because David knew he would be found out when Uriah came back from the battle to find his wife pregnant, he arranged for Uriah to be killed in battle. Hence, David, Israel’s greatest king and a man after God’s own heart, murdered Uriah and stole his wife.

Why did God handpick Bathsheba to be the great-great-(many more greats)-grandmother of Jesus? Perhaps it was to remind us that even though we are unfaithful, God is faithful to forgive us of our sins and cleanse us from our unrighteousness when we confess our sins and turn from them. Psalm 51 is David’s song of confession when he surrendered his heart to the Lord after this great sin with Bathsheba. May it be our prayer as we surrender our hearts to God today:

“Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit.” (Ps. 51:10-12, ESV)

“The Fifth Lady in Matthew 1″ by Chad

Mary, the mother of Jesus, is the fifth and final lady listed in Jesus’ lineage in Matthew 1. There’s not as much detail given about Mary in the book of Matthew as there is in the book of Luke. In Luke, we get a picture of what an incredible woman of faith she is. The following is a devotional on Mary that I wrote a couple of years ago:

“The Faith of a Young Lady” by Chad Young

“But the angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.’” (Luke 1:29-33)

One of the reasons I love the gospel of Luke is that it gives so much background surrounding the birth of Jesus. Put yourself in Mary’s shoes for a moment. You’re a young lady, set to be married to a young guy named Joseph. You’re minding your own business one day, probably daydreaming about your wedding, when an angel of the Lord appears to you. At this point, you didn’t even know for sure that angels existed, but this angel tells you that God will place a child inside of you, a virgin. For me personally, I think I would either pinch myself to make sure I wasn’t dreaming or start laughing and tell the so-called “angel” to leave me alone and stop playing a prank on me. I don’t think for a second I would have had enough faith to believe what the angel said was true. But listen how Mary immediately responded: