Hello friends, my name is Pastor Alvin Ho. 00:00:30.54\00:00:32.78 I run a ministry located in Berrien Springs, MI 00:00:32.81\00:00:35.04 called Wheel Salt Ministries. 00:00:35.07\00:00:36.74 Today I have a very special message for you. 00:00:36.77\00:00:39.74 It's entitled, 'In-laws and Outlaws. ' 00:00:39.77\00:00:42.16 the message is actually about the important text 00:00:42.19\00:00:45.23 that we find in Matthew and in Luke. 00:00:45.97\00:00:47.69 In Matthew chapter 1 it begins 00:00:47.72\00:00:49.95 with all those begats, why all these begats? 00:00:49.98\00:00:52.97 What's the reason for them? 00:00:53.00\00:00:54.32 There's a very good reason for that. 00:00:54.35\00:00:56.15 We're going to take a look at that. 00:00:56.18\00:00:57.46 But before we break open the word today 00:00:57.49\00:00:59.75 let's bow our heads for a word of prayer... 00:00:59.78\00:01:01.54 Heavenly Father, we are so grateful 00:01:01.57\00:01:04.96 for the things You do for us. 00:01:04.99\00:01:06.46 We're not worthy of these things. 00:01:06.49\00:01:09.05 But You sent us Your only Son Jesus 00:01:09.08\00:01:12.21 and you created in that line of His birth 00:01:12.24\00:01:16.92 some very specific names. 00:01:16.95\00:01:18.87 Names that we need to know and names that we need to know 00:01:18.90\00:01:21.59 why that they're there. 00:01:21.62\00:01:22.85 So help us now. Be with the words that I have. 00:01:22.88\00:01:26.78 That they may be words that are sent from you 00:01:26.81\00:01:29.59 to each and every heart that is open. 00:01:29.62\00:01:32.20 We thank You in Jesus name. Amen. 00:01:32.23\00:01:35.40 Names are very important. 00:01:35.43\00:01:38.49 You know, in the 00:01:38.52\00:01:40.82 Icelandic culture 00:01:40.85\00:01:42.14 names kind of reflect 00:01:42.17\00:01:44.07 a lineage of who you belong to. 00:01:44.10\00:01:46.68 In fact, from what I found out 00:01:46.71\00:01:48.51 the majority of the population 00:01:48.54\00:01:50.73 uses their father's last name. 00:01:50.76\00:01:53.00 For example, my first name is Alden 00:01:53.03\00:01:55.12 and my last name is Ho. 00:01:55.15\00:01:56.36 In the Icelandic culture, my father's name is James. 00:01:56.39\00:02:00.32 Therefore, my name would actually be 00:02:00.35\00:02:02.59 Alden James son. 00:02:02.62\00:02:04.51 Now on the other hand 00:02:04.54\00:02:06.70 my sister, who is 5 years younger than me, 00:02:06.73\00:02:09.97 her first name is Althea. 00:02:10.00\00:02:11.63 Over there in Iceland her name would be 00:02:11.66\00:02:16.13 Althea James daughter. 00:02:16.16\00:02:18.65 So I would have a last name of James son 00:02:18.68\00:02:21.56 And my sister would have the last name of James daughter. 00:02:21.59\00:02:24.37 Makes it kind of interesting to see 00:02:24.40\00:02:26.38 what a phone book would look like over there, wouldn't it. 00:02:26.41\00:02:28.60 But names have a purpose 00:02:28.63\00:02:30.44 they have a particular line to show 00:02:30.47\00:02:33.74 who you belong to. 00:02:33.77\00:02:35.10 Take for example the Chinese culture. 00:02:35.13\00:02:37.42 In the Chinese culture at least in my Chinese culture 00:02:37.45\00:02:41.80 and I'm 100% Chinese, 00:02:41.83\00:02:43.05 my first name is Alden 00:02:43.08\00:02:44.81 my middle name is my father's name which is James 00:02:44.84\00:02:47.51 along with that I have a Chinese name. 00:02:47.54\00:02:51.77 So it would be Alden James Xi Chan, last name is Ho. 00:02:51.80\00:02:56.42 Xi Chan is my Chinese name. 00:02:56.45\00:02:58.45 Now it's interesting to note that out of those three names 00:02:58.48\00:03:01.68 Xi is the generation name 00:03:01.71\00:03:04.66 and Chan is the given name to me. 00:03:04.69\00:03:07.97 So that means all my cousins 00:03:08.00\00:03:10.43 my sister and all my cousins 00:03:10.46\00:03:12.54 their Chinese names would begin with Xi also. 00:03:12.57\00:03:15.89 For example my sisters name would be Xi Ma Ho. 00:03:15.92\00:03:19.15 My cousins are Xi Hin Ho 00:03:19.18\00:03:21.55 and they have other Xi "something" Ho 00:03:21.58\00:03:24.10 Mine is Xi Chan Ho. 00:03:24.13\00:03:25.98 The reason for that is to be able to 00:03:26.01\00:03:27.60 identify what generation you belong to. 00:03:27.63\00:03:30.93 It's a name. But what's in the name? 00:03:30.96\00:03:34.01 That's what we want to look at today. 00:03:34.04\00:03:35.80 There's a reason we have these interesting names. 00:03:35.83\00:03:39.11 Now have you ever done a family tree? 00:03:39.14\00:03:41.45 My Family tree is kind of difficult to structure 00:03:41.48\00:03:45.38 because it being overseas 00:03:45.41\00:03:47.36 and the different way they keep things. 00:03:47.39\00:03:49.30 But if you live in North America 00:03:49.33\00:03:51.22 or other westernized countries 00:03:51.25\00:03:53.64 looking up the genealogy of your family tree 00:03:53.67\00:03:56.88 is not very difficult sometimes. 00:03:56.91\00:03:59.24 As long as you are willing to do the research. 00:03:59.27\00:04:01.12 However if you were a Jew 00:04:01.15\00:04:04.70 and you were to do a family lineage 00:04:04.73\00:04:07.80 you would find that there are some very interesting 00:04:07.83\00:04:11.52 things that you had to do within that lineage. 00:04:11.55\00:04:13.61 In fact if you were a Jew 00:04:13.64\00:04:15.93 and you were to author a biography or a book 00:04:15.96\00:04:18.87 you would never probably dream of 00:04:18.90\00:04:22.79 starting the book by, "So-and-so was the father of So-and-so. " 00:04:22.83\00:04:26.33 and on and on right up to the person 00:04:26.36\00:04:29.10 that the book was actually about. 00:04:29.13\00:04:30.96 However, since Jesus was a Jew 00:04:30.99\00:04:34.57 beginning the story of a person's life 00:04:34.60\00:04:37.75 with a genealogy was therefore 00:04:37.78\00:04:40.47 was the most natural thing to do 00:04:40.50\00:04:42.93 and in fact was the most imperative thing to do. 00:04:42.96\00:04:46.51 The reason that racial pedigree is so interesting to them 00:04:46.54\00:04:50.74 is that Jews placed such a high regard 00:04:50.77\00:04:53.82 for the purity of one's lineage. 00:04:53.85\00:04:56.10 So it was very important to show 00:04:56.13\00:04:58.06 who you belonged to in the line behind you. 00:04:58.09\00:05:00.57 For example, I'll give you an example. 00:05:00.60\00:05:03.96 A priest needed to produce an unbroken record 00:05:03.99\00:05:08.05 of his pedigree all the way back to Aaron. 00:05:08.08\00:05:11.33 After the Babylonian captivity 00:05:11.36\00:05:14.33 certain families could not serve as priests. 00:05:14.36\00:05:17.20 The Bible tells us. If we look at Ezra 6:2 00:05:17.23\00:05:21.12 we'll see why that is. 00:05:21.15\00:05:22.39 This tells us that they searched 00:05:38.51\00:05:40.42 They looked through the family history. 00:05:40.45\00:05:43.06 They had to look through there 00:05:43.09\00:05:44.50 because in order to be a priest 00:05:44.53\00:05:46.60 you had to prove that you were part of that family tree 00:05:46.63\00:05:50.01 that was from the line of Aaron. 00:05:50.04\00:05:51.81 Now, Herod the Great 00:05:51.84\00:05:55.01 he was actually so embarrassed 00:05:55.04\00:05:57.52 that his name was not in the official genealogy 00:05:57.55\00:06:00.59 that he ordered their entire destruction. 00:06:00.62\00:06:03.11 That's very interesting. 00:06:03.14\00:06:05.42 The first century Jewish authors 00:06:05.45\00:06:07.78 would not only find a genealogy 00:06:07.81\00:06:09.78 of a person natural and interesting 00:06:09.81\00:06:14.00 but they would consider it to be absolutely essential. 00:06:14.03\00:06:17.26 That would be very true 00:06:17.29\00:06:18.89 especially for the book we're going to look at right now, 00:06:18.92\00:06:22.70 the book of Matthew. 00:06:22.73\00:06:24.01 In the book of Matthew we'll look at the very beginning 00:06:24.04\00:06:26.80 of Matthew 1:1 and we find it just says this: 00:06:26.83\00:06:31.05 "The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ " 00:06:31.08\00:06:33.58 "The son of David, the son of Abraham. " 00:06:33.61\00:06:36.18 There it starts off with Jesus 00:06:36.21\00:06:40.14 but Jesus was actually not the direct son of David. 00:06:40.17\00:06:43.28 Nor was David the direct son of Abraham. 00:06:43.31\00:06:46.38 There was a promise that was given. 00:06:46.41\00:06:48.36 And the promise was that 00:06:48.39\00:06:50.63 Abraham would be the father of a great nation. 00:06:50.66\00:06:53.95 Let's look at something here. It's very interesting. 00:06:53.98\00:06:57.08 If you look at Revelation chapter 22 00:06:57.11\00:07:00.37 verse 16. 00:07:00.40\00:07:04.60 So, Matthew also finds it important 00:07:20.61\00:07:24.20 to prove that Jesus is this lineage. 00:07:24.23\00:07:26.38 I just read that to you 00:07:26.41\00:07:27.72 that Jesus is the son of David 00:07:27.75\00:07:29.45 and the son of Abraham. 00:07:29.48\00:07:31.01 Matthew's trying to emphasize here 00:07:31.04\00:07:33.45 his genealogy is that of Jesus 00:07:33.48\00:07:36.59 who claims to be Christ the Messiah. 00:07:36.62\00:07:39.78 Now follow with me. This can be a little tricky. 00:07:39.81\00:07:42.19 But there is very great importance into this lineage. 00:07:42.22\00:07:46.01 In other words Jesus is of the lineage 00:07:46.04\00:07:48.41 of both David and of Abraham. 00:07:48.44\00:07:51.12 And because that is so 00:07:51.15\00:07:53.11 it qualifies Him to be in the role 00:07:53.14\00:07:56.91 of the Messiah. 00:07:56.94\00:07:58.00 So let's look at that again 00:07:58.03\00:08:00.68 in Matthew 1:1 we'll just glance at that 00:08:00.71\00:08:04.80 one more time. 00:08:04.83\00:08:05.80 "The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ " 00:08:05.81\00:08:07.77 "the son of David, the son of Abraham. " 00:08:07.80\00:08:09.89 Now if you have your Bible keep your finger there 00:08:09.92\00:08:13.06 but also turn to Luke 3:23. 00:08:13.09\00:08:19.89 Now why the difference? 00:08:34.92\00:08:36.47 We see that in Matthew 00:08:36.50\00:08:38.23 it is recorded that Jesus is the son of David 00:08:38.26\00:08:40.68 and the son of Abraham. 00:08:40.71\00:08:42.96 But we find in Luke that Jesus began His ministry 00:08:42.99\00:08:46.85 and he was the son of Joseph 00:08:46.88\00:08:48.44 and the son of Heli. This is very interesting. 00:08:48.47\00:08:52.10 You have to understand that there is a difference 00:08:52.13\00:08:54.16 between these two 00:08:54.19\00:08:55.26 Matthew is authoring the book under his name, 'Matthew. ' 00:08:55.29\00:08:59.73 He is writing specifically to a Jewish audience, 00:08:59.76\00:09:02.84 a Jewish group. 00:09:02.87\00:09:04.38 Luke, on the other hand, was not Jewish. 00:09:04.41\00:09:06.75 So he did not start the book that way. 00:09:06.78\00:09:09.37 That's why we're not looking at Luke, chapter one. 00:09:09.40\00:09:12.28 We're looking in Luke, chapter three. 00:09:12.31\00:09:14.11 It did not hold great importance 00:09:14.14\00:09:16.06 because Luke was not a Jew. He was a Gentile. 00:09:16.09\00:09:19.93 Both authors were focusing on different things 00:09:19.96\00:09:23.64 Matthew repeatedly sets forth Jesus as the fulfillment 00:09:23.68\00:09:28.30 of the Old Testament prophecy 00:09:28.34\00:09:30.26 which is lacking in Luke. 00:09:30.29\00:09:32.34 Which is why Luke also includes some stories 00:09:32.37\00:09:35.61 you might've heard of such as, 'The Good Samaritan. ' 00:09:35.64\00:09:38.44 You would never find the story of the Good Samaritan in Matthew 00:09:38.47\00:09:42.64 because according to a Jew 00:09:42.67\00:09:44.81 a good Samaritan is not a good Samaritan. 00:09:44.84\00:09:48.97 It's an oxy-moron. 00:09:49.00\00:09:50.09 A Samaritan could not be good. 00:09:50.12\00:09:52.50 And a Samaritan could not be one 00:09:52.53\00:09:55.33 that would be worthy to be put into the book of Matthew. 00:09:55.36\00:09:58.70 So we find here, Jesus is the promised Messiah 00:09:58.73\00:10:02.38 The Savior of the Jews. 00:10:02.41\00:10:04.29 While Luke doesn't focus on Jesus as the Savior of the Jews. 00:10:04.32\00:10:09.57 In fact we find Luke saying 00:10:09.60\00:10:11.79 Jesus is the Savior to all peoples 00:10:11.82\00:10:15.05 of the world. 00:10:15.08\00:10:16.17 Let's look at that a little further and we'll find out why. 00:10:16.20\00:10:19.23 If you notice in Matthew, Matthew starts off by saying 00:10:19.26\00:10:24.68 that He is the son of David, the Son of Abraham. 00:10:24.71\00:10:28.22 But if you go down the lineage you will find also 00:10:28.25\00:10:31.99 that Jesus according to Matthew 00:10:32.02\00:10:36.94 goes all the way back to Abraham. 00:10:36.97\00:10:38.82 So he follows click, click, click all the way back 00:10:38.85\00:10:43.14 to David and then it goes back to Abraham. 00:10:43.17\00:10:45.03 But we find on the other hand 00:10:45.06\00:10:47.79 Luke does not go all the way back to Abraham. 00:10:47.82\00:10:50.25 Luke goes all the way back to the very beginning 00:10:50.28\00:10:53.07 to the very first man that was created by God. 00:10:53.10\00:10:55.25 And who was that? Adam. 00:10:55.28\00:10:57.46 Why does Luke go back to Adam? 00:10:57.49\00:11:01.40 Well, he does that because Adam 00:11:01.43\00:11:04.96 was the beginning of the human race. 00:11:04.99\00:11:07.22 Abraham was the beginning of the Jewish nation. 00:11:07.25\00:11:10.76 Another reason for the difference between 00:11:10.79\00:11:12.73 Matthew's and Luke's genealogy is that Matthew 00:11:12.76\00:11:16.42 traces Joseph's ancestry while Luke traces Mary's ancestry. 00:11:16.45\00:11:23.61 While we modern readers find 00:11:23.64\00:11:25.95 discrepancies between these genealogies 00:11:25.98\00:11:28.51 they undoubtedly created no difficulties 00:11:28.54\00:11:31.33 for their first century readers. 00:11:31.36\00:11:33.40 Because they understood more fully 00:11:33.43\00:11:35.40 the rules of making genealogies 00:11:35.43\00:11:37.80 And they had access to those 00:11:37.83\00:11:39.63 family genealogy records which we don't today. 00:11:39.66\00:11:43.05 that's why we find in Matthew 1:16 00:11:43.08\00:11:47.94 there is a subtle shift that 00:11:47.97\00:11:50.38 flows from Joseph to Mary. 00:11:50.41\00:11:53.31 Let's see what it says. 00:11:53.34\00:11:54.92 You see there is a subtle change that happens right there and 00:12:07.60\00:12:09.89 and it's for a good reason. 00:12:09.92\00:12:10.89 because Joseph was actually not the physical father of Jesus. 00:12:10.90\00:12:15.59 Mary was the physical mother of Jesus. 00:12:15.62\00:12:20.12 So let's look at this a little deeper and we'll find out. 00:12:20.15\00:12:23.47 I want to explain to you that Jews would not find it strange 00:12:23.50\00:12:27.58 in fact to begin a book with a genealogy. 00:12:27.61\00:12:29.85 It would be, however, shocking if they found in the genealogy 00:12:29.88\00:12:34.02 any information relating to a woman. 00:12:34.05\00:12:36.58 Because it was very odd to find women 00:12:36.61\00:12:39.32 in Jewish genealogies. 00:12:39.35\00:12:41.22 Because women, well let's just say women 00:12:41.25\00:12:43.87 had no legal rights. 00:12:43.90\00:12:45.95 Women were not regarded as a person 00:12:45.98\00:12:48.69 but as a thing. 00:12:48.72\00:12:51.43 It was very interesting that 00:12:51.46\00:12:54.28 people would actually pray, 00:12:54.31\00:12:57.06 Jewish males would pray every morning 00:12:57.09\00:12:59.17 and they would thank God that they were not gentiles 00:12:59.20\00:13:02.39 nor slaves nor a woman. 00:13:02.42\00:13:05.77 Even at that 00:13:05.80\00:13:06.84 Matthew's genealogy of Jesus 00:13:06.87\00:13:09.83 was provided to reflect a purity 00:13:09.86\00:13:12.29 of one's personal heritage. 00:13:12.32\00:13:15.30 So it would not have been 00:13:15.33\00:13:17.75 too shocking to find that Jesus 00:13:17.78\00:13:19.61 had female ancestors; we all do. 00:13:19.64\00:13:22.61 It wouldn't be shocking to us if we saw 00:13:22.64\00:13:25.36 names such as Sarah or Rebecca or Rachel. 00:13:25.39\00:13:28.86 But it seems Matthew researched the Old Testament records 00:13:28.89\00:13:33.29 until he found four of I guess you could say 00:13:33.32\00:13:36.84 the most questionable ancestors of Jesus. 00:13:36.87\00:13:41.76 And that's what we're going to look at. 00:13:41.79\00:13:43.59 And actually I don't think Matthew found them. 00:13:43.62\00:13:48.18 I think the Lord God wanted those names 00:13:48.21\00:13:51.04 in there for a very specific reason. 00:13:51.07\00:13:53.11 Because as you will see if you can follow me 00:13:53.14\00:13:56.06 there's a reason for this. 00:13:56.09\00:13:57.81 Let's briefly look at these names that are in there. 00:13:57.84\00:14:00.93 In the first story we find 00:14:00.96\00:14:04.13 Let me just show you the name. 00:14:04.16\00:14:05.70 In Matthew 1:3 we find the first name. 00:14:05.73\00:14:09.46 Now we find that Tamar is included in this story. 00:14:20.05\00:14:22.50 If you know Tamar's story 00:14:22.53\00:14:24.80 you'll find that it's a very interesting story. 00:14:24.83\00:14:27.93 Because it has almost a, as we call it in North America 00:14:27.96\00:14:30.86 an 'R' rating to it. 00:14:30.89\00:14:32.57 It's definitely not a story that you'd find 00:14:32.60\00:14:34.79 in a children's Bible story book. 00:14:34.82\00:14:36.55 In verse 6 of chapter 38 in Genesis we read here: 00:14:36.58\00:14:41.52 So here's Er the first born 00:14:52.01\00:14:53.47 finds a wife. 00:14:53.50\00:14:55.77 Her name is Tamar. 00:14:55.80\00:14:57.20 She is a Canaanite woman. 00:14:57.23\00:14:58.84 In the very next verse we find 00:14:58.87\00:15:00.41 that Er wasn't too righteous. 00:15:00.44\00:15:01.98 In fact, to the contrary 00:15:02.01\00:15:04.10 because he wasn't too righteous, 00:15:04.13\00:15:06.13 his life was cut a little short. 00:15:06.16\00:15:08.14 in the next verse, verse 8 00:15:08.17\00:15:10.36 we find that Judah told his next son in line, Onan 00:15:10.39\00:15:14.22 to take Tamar and make some children for them. 00:15:14.25\00:15:18.79 Because Onan actually failed to perform in procreation 00:15:18.82\00:15:24.37 God wasn't too pleased with his methodologies 00:15:24.40\00:15:27.37 and so ended his life. 00:15:27.40\00:15:29.05 It was customary in the Near Eastern culture 00:15:29.08\00:15:32.96 to have the next brother in line 00:15:32.99\00:15:34.72 to take the wife to be the next in line 00:15:34.75\00:15:37.36 in case there was a death of an older brother. 00:15:37.39\00:15:39.55 Now with two sons down 00:15:39.58\00:15:41.83 Judah only had one left, Shelah. 00:15:41.86\00:15:45.66 And we find in Genesis 38:11 00:15:45.69\00:15:49.41 We find something interesting happens here 00:15:49.44\00:15:52.12 Here we find Judah. Judah says to Tamar, 00:16:13.51\00:16:15.88 "Look Tamar, two of my sons, " 00:16:15.91\00:16:17.57 "the two that you were married to, they're gone. " 00:16:17.60\00:16:20.01 "the next one the last one I have " 00:16:20.04\00:16:22.65 "he's not really quite old enough. " 00:16:22.68\00:16:24.66 "Why don't you go back to your father's house" 00:16:24.69\00:16:26.55 "When he's old enough I'll come and get you. " 00:16:26.58\00:16:29.14 "You can marry him. " 00:16:29.17\00:16:30.40 Well, we find out that Judah didn't actually live through 00:16:30.43\00:16:34.49 and he didn't fulfill his promise of finding her. 00:16:34.52\00:16:36.91 So Tamar, after a number of years 00:16:36.94\00:16:39.30 realizes that Judah is not going to live up to his promise. 00:16:39.33\00:16:43.16 So she disguises herself. 00:16:43.19\00:16:45.20 And if you continue reading on in that story 00:16:45.23\00:16:47.30 you'll find that as she disguises herself 00:16:47.33\00:16:49.99 she actually portrays herself to be a prostitute. 00:16:50.02\00:16:53.03 And she has an encounter with the unsuspecting Judah. 00:16:53.06\00:16:57.69 Wow! sounds like some soap opera. 00:16:57.72\00:17:00.31 Well, several months later we find 00:17:00.34\00:17:02.34 that the sins have shown up. 00:17:02.37\00:17:04.67 Tamar is pregnant. 00:17:04.70\00:17:06.49 And it's very difficult to hide the fact that she is pregnant. 00:17:06.52\00:17:10.41 Judah was so thrilled at the fact 00:17:10.44\00:17:12.73 that she has been caught red-handed 00:17:12.76\00:17:14.44 and he now has the opportunity to lay before her 00:17:14.47\00:17:18.80 and show everybody that she is worthy of death, 00:17:18.83\00:17:22.88 being burned to death. 00:17:22.91\00:17:23.98 Well, Tamar brought this thing that Judah had given her, 00:17:24.01\00:17:30.91 some things to show that it was he whom she had slept with. 00:17:30.94\00:17:35.27 Well, Tamar was actually holding that 'trump card' saying, 00:17:35.30\00:17:39.24 "Look Judah, you're the one who did it. " 00:17:39.27\00:17:42.06 "You're the one who got me pregnant here. " 00:17:42.09\00:17:43.51 Let's see what Genesis 38:26 says. 00:17:43.54\00:17:49.07 And what Judah replies here: 00:17:49.10\00:17:50.97 I'm sure that deciding on who 00:18:05.12\00:18:07.34 was more righteous would actually be quite difficult, 00:18:07.37\00:18:10.02 whether it be Judah or Tamar. 00:18:10.05\00:18:13.12 Matthew writes and he puts Tamar in there for a specific reason. 00:18:13.15\00:18:19.44 Well let's look at the next one. 00:18:19.47\00:18:22.49 The next person in line is actually Rahab. 00:18:22.53\00:18:24.98 Rahab is in Jesus' genealogy 00:18:25.02\00:18:28.23 and we find Rehab's story starting in Joshua 2:1. 00:18:28.27\00:18:32.69 Joshua 2:1 here's what it says 00:18:32.72\00:18:36.34 They came to Rahab who was a harlot. 00:18:45.98\00:18:48.07 She was basically the owner of a brothel. 00:18:48.10\00:18:52.44 And the spies came to her house to hide out 00:18:52.47\00:18:55.47 because they knew it was a public house. 00:18:55.51\00:18:57.93 and it was common for so many people 00:18:57.96\00:18:59.86 to be coming and going there. 00:18:59.90\00:19:01.31 Because so many people were coming and going 00:19:01.35\00:19:03.45 it was a perfect hideout for spies. 00:19:03.49\00:19:05.51 And that's what they were doing. 00:19:05.55\00:19:07.07 And Rahab hid them from the King. 00:19:07.11\00:19:09.73 Because she had heard about the God of Israel 00:19:09.76\00:19:12.64 and about all the miracles He had performed. 00:19:12.67\00:19:15.46 She had faith and believed in God. 00:19:15.50\00:19:18.28 That's also why she is listed 00:19:18.31\00:19:20.19 in the 'Faith Hall of Fame' that we find in Hebrews 11:31 00:19:20.22\00:19:25.16 Hebrews 11:31 00:19:25.20\00:19:27.72 So, it's very clear. 00:19:40.03\00:19:42.05 God had put Rahab in the genealogy 00:19:42.08\00:19:45.32 of Jesus for a specific reason. 00:19:45.36\00:19:47.24 Let's look at the third one. 00:19:47.28\00:19:49.46 The third one is Ruth. 00:19:49.49\00:19:50.81 We don't have any specific texts here because 00:19:50.84\00:19:53.17 although there is a book called Ruth 00:19:53.20\00:19:54.85 it doesn't tell the story of what happened 00:19:54.89\00:19:57.18 you'd have to look a little before Ruth. 00:19:57.21\00:19:59.72 But we know that Ruth is a third candidate 00:19:59.75\00:20:03.13 because she had very good character 00:20:03.16\00:20:07.07 but she came from a specially despised racial strain. 00:20:07.10\00:20:12.03 She was a Moabite. 00:20:12.06\00:20:13.90 Her story is actually found in Ruth chapter 1 00:20:13.93\00:20:16.71 Her people were the product 00:20:16.74\00:20:18.55 of actually an incestuous relationship 00:20:18.58\00:20:20.81 between Lot and his oldest unmarried daughter. 00:20:20.84\00:20:25.23 Scheming to preserve the family line 00:20:25.26\00:20:27.94 each of the daughters got their father drunk. 00:20:27.97\00:20:30.08 He slept with his daughters 00:20:30.11\00:20:32.04 unknowingly and by this 00:20:32.07\00:20:34.11 Lot fathered several children. 00:20:34.14\00:20:37.24 The son from the oldest daughter 00:20:37.27\00:20:40.04 was Moab, father of a people 00:20:40.07\00:20:43.79 who would become one of Israel's most relentless enemies. 00:20:43.82\00:20:48.36 Following the suggestion of Balaam 00:20:48.39\00:20:51.19 the Moabites later seduced the Israelites 00:20:51.22\00:20:54.10 into immorality and idolatry 00:20:54.13\00:20:56.73 resulting in a proclamation from God 00:20:56.76\00:20:58.62 through Moses that they may not enter 00:20:58.65\00:21:01.11 into the assemblies of the Lord 00:21:01.14\00:21:03.11 even down to the tenth generation. 00:21:03.14\00:21:05.42 And even though Ruth was not a prostitute 00:21:05.45\00:21:08.73 she was not an adulteress 00:21:08.76\00:21:10.57 her racial background in the eyes of a Jew 00:21:10.60\00:21:13.63 was just as serious. 00:21:13.66\00:21:15.66 the last one we're going to look at 00:21:15.69\00:21:17.20 is another female in Jesus' lineage 00:21:17.23\00:21:20.28 her name is Bathsheba. 00:21:20.31\00:21:23.47 But we find that Bathsheba is actually not listed 00:21:23.50\00:21:27.10 in the genealogy because we find that 00:21:27.13\00:21:29.83 Matthew implies that she is basically Uriah's wife. 00:21:29.86\00:21:35.43 He couldn't even name her. 00:21:35.46\00:21:37.10 Well Matthew's implying two points here. 00:21:37.13\00:21:40.09 The first being that although she was not 00:21:40.12\00:21:42.36 born an Israelite, legally she was probably considered 00:21:42.39\00:21:45.97 a Gentile through marriage. 00:21:46.00\00:21:48.22 The second being that Uriah's name 00:21:48.25\00:21:52.47 was the former husband of Bathsheba. 00:21:52.50\00:21:54.22 Let's look at that story in 2 Samuel 11:2-4 00:21:54.25\00:22:00.31 We find that David could not sleep. 00:22:00.34\00:22:02.65 and here's what it says: 00:22:02.68\00:22:04.23 Here, David couldn't sleep one night. 00:22:29.18\00:22:33.31 He went out and he saw Bathsheba. 00:22:33.34\00:22:35.52 He thought she was very beautiful. 00:22:35.55\00:22:37.48 He had his servant go and get Bathsheba 00:22:37.51\00:22:39.74 and bring her back to his palace. 00:22:39.77\00:22:42.38 Well, David created his own 'Watergate' scandal. 00:22:42.41\00:22:46.98 Scandals and deceptions to no avail 00:22:47.01\00:22:49.98 to the point that he ordered 00:22:50.01\00:22:51.98 his general of the army, Joab 00:22:52.01\00:22:54.31 to put Uriah the husband of Bathsheba 00:22:54.34\00:22:56.31 to the very front lines and to withdraw. 00:22:56.34\00:22:59.37 He did all this in order to have Uriah killed. 00:22:59.40\00:23:03.35 He was trying to cover-up his own grief and his own sins. 00:23:03.38\00:23:07.64 So here we have four women 00:23:07.67\00:23:09.64 We have Tamar, we have Rahab 00:23:09.67\00:23:13.86 we have Ruth and we have Bathsheba. 00:23:13.89\00:23:17.23 Three of the four women are caught in very gross sins 00:23:17.26\00:23:23.25 so why in the world would Matthew 00:23:23.28\00:23:25.42 who is writing to a Jewish readership 00:23:25.45\00:23:28.38 deliberately add these women to His genealogy? 00:23:28.41\00:23:31.83 Matthew writes about Mary saying, 00:23:31.86\00:23:34.60 "She will give birth to a son " 00:23:34.63\00:23:36.70 "and you are to give Him the name Jesus. " 00:23:36.73\00:23:39.95 Why Jesus? Because He will save His people 00:23:39.98\00:23:43.30 from their sins. 00:23:43.33\00:23:44.88 So the question is this, 00:23:44.91\00:23:46.88 What kind of people can Jesus save? 00:23:46.91\00:23:50.61 What type of people can God save by the One born of Mary? 00:23:50.64\00:23:54.32 The answer is very simple as it flashes 00:23:54.35\00:23:57.37 through the genealogy of Jesus. 00:23:57.40\00:23:59.34 Jesus can save people such as Tamar 00:23:59.37\00:24:02.66 Rahab, Bathsheba and Ruth 00:24:02.69\00:24:07.38 and David. 00:24:07.41\00:24:09.72 He can save Gentiles. He can save prostitutes. 00:24:09.75\00:24:12.51 He can save adulterers. He can save deceivers. 00:24:12.54\00:24:15.51 He can even save murderers. 00:24:15.54\00:24:17.16 He can save anyone including you. 00:24:17.19\00:24:20.27 Jesus didn't come to save people in their sins. 00:24:20.30\00:24:23.94 No, no, no, understand, Jesus came to save people 00:24:23.97\00:24:26.99 from their sins. 00:24:27.02\00:24:28.56 He came to enable us to conquer sin in our lives. 00:24:28.59\00:24:33.45 And that takes place actually on three levels. 00:24:33.48\00:24:35.98 Did you know that? 00:24:36.01\00:24:37.51 It takes place on the first level 00:24:37.54\00:24:39.42 through Jesus' sinless life and death on the cross. 00:24:39.45\00:24:42.99 He saved His people from the penalty of sin. 00:24:43.02\00:24:46.19 That's justification. 00:24:46.22\00:24:48.50 He came and He saved us from the penalty of sin. 00:24:48.53\00:24:51.52 The second one is: Jesus saves His people 00:24:51.55\00:24:54.82 from the power of sin. 00:24:54.85\00:24:56.91 You see right now, if you accept Jesus as your personal Savior 00:24:56.94\00:25:01.25 you are free from the penalty of sin. 00:25:01.28\00:25:03.84 When Jesus comes again 00:25:03.87\00:25:06.06 and we are caught up to meet Him and we are taken up to heaven 00:25:06.09\00:25:09.29 we will be saved from the presence or the power of sin. 00:25:09.32\00:25:13.20 through sanctification. 00:25:13.23\00:25:14.54 When He comes again and we are caught up with Him in the clouds 00:25:14.57\00:25:20.18 to be taken to heaven that's when the last one takes place. 00:25:20.21\00:25:23.54 Glorification. 00:25:23.57\00:25:25.17 That's when we will actually be free from the presence of sin. 00:25:25.20\00:25:29.40 There's a text I wanted to read you 00:25:29.43\00:25:31.67 it's taken from Desire of Ages page 25. 00:25:31.70\00:25:34.68 And here's what Ellen White writes, 00:25:34.71\00:25:36.79 Do you see? The reason that Matthew 00:26:04.32\00:26:08.03 has those four questionable names in there 00:26:08.06\00:26:10.90 is this very reason: Jesus came to save people. 00:26:10.93\00:26:15.27 He came to save me and He came to save you. 00:26:15.30\00:26:18.93 He came and He died on the cross for you friend. 00:26:18.96\00:26:22.05 Doesn't that mean something to you? 00:26:22.08\00:26:24.20 No matter where you are, no matter what country 00:26:24.23\00:26:27.57 no matter what city, no matter what condition 00:26:27.60\00:26:30.12 you are in 00:26:30.15\00:26:31.12 there is nothing 00:26:31.13\00:26:32.20 that you can do 00:26:32.23\00:26:33.94 that can make God 00:26:33.97\00:26:35.21 love you any less than He loves you now. 00:26:35.24\00:26:37.93 All He is asking is that you give your heart to Him. 00:26:37.97\00:26:41.75 And in so doing He is ready to free you from your sins. 00:26:41.78\00:26:46.29 If you ask He will forgive. 00:26:46.32\00:26:49.00 No matter how much writing is on your slate. 00:26:49.03\00:26:51.74 He will wipe that clean. 00:26:51.77\00:26:53.69 He is ready. You have in-laws 00:26:53.72\00:26:57.78 and you have out-laws. 00:26:57.81\00:26:59.97 But it doesn't have to be that way. 00:27:00.00\00:27:01.76 You can be free from the penalty of sin. 00:27:01.79\00:27:06.74 Very soon we will be free from the presence of sin 00:27:06.77\00:27:11.77 and the power of sin. 00:27:11.80\00:27:14.03 Would you like to be free from sin? 00:27:14.06\00:27:16.38 Why don't you join me as we ask Jesus 00:27:16.41\00:27:19.79 to come into our hearts right now. 00:27:19.82\00:27:22.05 Let's pray. 00:27:22.08\00:27:23.97 Dear Heavenly Father, 00:27:24.00\00:27:25.18 we thank You for these four names 00:27:25.21\00:27:27.92 because these four names are so important 00:27:27.95\00:27:30.08 because it shows to us that Jesus 00:27:30.11\00:27:32.12 didn't come just to save the righteous people 00:27:32.15\00:27:34.41 He came to save the sinner 00:27:34.44\00:27:36.13 and we are all sinners in Your sight. 00:27:36.16\00:27:39.12 And Lord we know that you are coming very soon 00:27:39.15\00:27:41.69 we want to ask that You 00:27:41.72\00:27:43.81 take our hearts, cleanse them of all unrighteousness. 00:27:43.84\00:27:46.53 Make us worthy to be able to enter into your Kingdom 00:27:46.56\00:27:50.28 for we pray all these things in Jesus name, Amen. 00:27:50.31\00:27:54.98