Participants: Alden Ho (Host)
Series Code: FC
Program Code: FC000304
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00:30 Hello friends, my name is Pastor Alvin Ho.
00:32 I run a ministry located in Berrien Springs, MI 00:35 called Wheel Salt Ministries. 00:36 Today I have a very special message for you. 00:39 It's entitled, 'In-laws and Outlaws. ' 00:42 the message is actually about the important text 00:45 that we find in Matthew and in Luke. 00:47 In Matthew chapter 1 it begins 00:49 with all those begats, why all these begats? 00:53 What's the reason for them? 00:54 There's a very good reason for that. 00:56 We're going to take a look at that. 00:57 But before we break open the word today 00:59 let's bow our heads for a word of prayer... 01:01 Heavenly Father, we are so grateful 01:04 for the things You do for us. 01:06 We're not worthy of these things. 01:09 But You sent us Your only Son Jesus 01:12 and you created in that line of His birth 01:16 some very specific names. 01:18 Names that we need to know and names that we need to know 01:21 why that they're there. 01:22 So help us now. Be with the words that I have. 01:26 That they may be words that are sent from you 01:29 to each and every heart that is open. 01:32 We thank You in Jesus name. Amen. 01:35 Names are very important. 01:38 You know, in the 01:40 Icelandic culture 01:42 names kind of reflect 01:44 a lineage of who you belong to. 01:46 In fact, from what I found out 01:48 the majority of the population 01:50 uses their father's last name. 01:53 For example, my first name is Alden 01:55 and my last name is Ho. 01:56 In the Icelandic culture, my father's name is James. 02:00 Therefore, my name would actually be 02:02 Alden James son. 02:04 Now on the other hand 02:06 my sister, who is 5 years younger than me, 02:10 her first name is Althea. 02:11 Over there in Iceland her name would be 02:16 Althea James daughter. 02:18 So I would have a last name of James son 02:21 And my sister would have the last name of James daughter. 02:24 Makes it kind of interesting to see 02:26 what a phone book would look like over there, wouldn't it. 02:28 But names have a purpose 02:30 they have a particular line to show 02:33 who you belong to. 02:35 Take for example the Chinese culture. 02:37 In the Chinese culture at least in my Chinese culture 02:41 and I'm 100% Chinese, 02:43 my first name is Alden 02:44 my middle name is my father's name which is James 02:47 along with that I have a Chinese name. 02:51 So it would be Alden James Xi Chan, last name is Ho. 02:56 Xi Chan is my Chinese name. 02:58 Now it's interesting to note that out of those three names 03:01 Xi is the generation name 03:04 and Chan is the given name to me. 03:08 So that means all my cousins 03:10 my sister and all my cousins 03:12 their Chinese names would begin with Xi also. 03:15 For example my sisters name would be Xi Ma Ho. 03:19 My cousins are Xi Hin Ho 03:21 and they have other Xi "something" Ho 03:24 Mine is Xi Chan Ho. 03:26 The reason for that is to be able to 03:27 identify what generation you belong to. 03:30 It's a name. But what's in the name? 03:34 That's what we want to look at today. 03:35 There's a reason we have these interesting names. 03:39 Now have you ever done a family tree? 03:41 My Family tree is kind of difficult to structure 03:45 because it being overseas 03:47 and the different way they keep things. 03:49 But if you live in North America 03:51 or other westernized countries 03:53 looking up the genealogy of your family tree 03:56 is not very difficult sometimes. 03:59 As long as you are willing to do the research. 04:01 However if you were a Jew 04:04 and you were to do a family lineage 04:07 you would find that there are some very interesting 04:11 things that you had to do within that lineage. 04:13 In fact if you were a Jew 04:15 and you were to author a biography or a book 04:18 you would never probably dream of 04:22 starting the book by, "So-and-so was the father of So-and-so. " 04:26 and on and on right up to the person 04:29 that the book was actually about. 04:30 However, since Jesus was a Jew 04:34 beginning the story of a person's life 04:37 with a genealogy was therefore 04:40 was the most natural thing to do 04:42 and in fact was the most imperative thing to do. 04:46 The reason that racial pedigree is so interesting to them 04:50 is that Jews placed such a high regard 04:53 for the purity of one's lineage. 04:56 So it was very important to show 04:58 who you belonged to in the line behind you. 05:00 For example, I'll give you an example. 05:03 A priest needed to produce an unbroken record 05:08 of his pedigree all the way back to Aaron. 05:11 After the Babylonian captivity 05:14 certain families could not serve as priests. 05:17 The Bible tells us. If we look at Ezra 6:2 05:21 we'll see why that is. 05:38 This tells us that they searched 05:40 They looked through the family history. 05:43 They had to look through there 05:44 because in order to be a priest 05:46 you had to prove that you were part of that family tree 05:50 that was from the line of Aaron. 05:51 Now, Herod the Great 05:55 he was actually so embarrassed 05:57 that his name was not in the official genealogy 06:00 that he ordered their entire destruction. 06:03 That's very interesting. 06:05 The first century Jewish authors 06:07 would not only find a genealogy 06:09 of a person natural and interesting 06:14 but they would consider it to be absolutely essential. 06:17 That would be very true 06:18 especially for the book we're going to look at right now, 06:22 the book of Matthew. 06:24 In the book of Matthew we'll look at the very beginning 06:26 of Matthew 1:1 and we find it just says this: 06:31 "The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ " 06:33 "The son of David, the son of Abraham. " 06:36 There it starts off with Jesus 06:40 but Jesus was actually not the direct son of David. 06:43 Nor was David the direct son of Abraham. 06:46 There was a promise that was given. 06:48 And the promise was that 06:50 Abraham would be the father of a great nation. 06:53 Let's look at something here. It's very interesting. 06:57 If you look at Revelation chapter 22 07:00 verse 16. 07:20 So, Matthew also finds it important 07:24 to prove that Jesus is this lineage. 07:26 I just read that to you 07:27 that Jesus is the son of David 07:29 and the son of Abraham. 07:31 Matthew's trying to emphasize here 07:33 his genealogy is that of Jesus 07:36 who claims to be Christ the Messiah. 07:39 Now follow with me. This can be a little tricky. 07:42 But there is very great importance into this lineage. 07:46 In other words Jesus is of the lineage 07:48 of both David and of Abraham. 07:51 And because that is so 07:53 it qualifies Him to be in the role 07:56 of the Messiah. 07:58 So let's look at that again 08:00 in Matthew 1:1 we'll just glance at that 08:04 one more time. 08:05 "The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ " 08:07 "the son of David, the son of Abraham. " 08:09 Now if you have your Bible keep your finger there 08:13 but also turn to Luke 3:23. 08:34 Now why the difference? 08:36 We see that in Matthew 08:38 it is recorded that Jesus is the son of David 08:40 and the son of Abraham. 08:42 But we find in Luke that Jesus began His ministry 08:46 and he was the son of Joseph 08:48 and the son of Heli. This is very interesting. 08:52 You have to understand that there is a difference 08:54 between these two 08:55 Matthew is authoring the book under his name, 'Matthew. ' 08:59 He is writing specifically to a Jewish audience, 09:02 a Jewish group. 09:04 Luke, on the other hand, was not Jewish. 09:06 So he did not start the book that way. 09:09 That's why we're not looking at Luke, chapter one. 09:12 We're looking in Luke, chapter three. 09:14 It did not hold great importance 09:16 because Luke was not a Jew. He was a Gentile. 09:19 Both authors were focusing on different things 09:23 Matthew repeatedly sets forth Jesus as the fulfillment 09:28 of the Old Testament prophecy 09:30 which is lacking in Luke. 09:32 Which is why Luke also includes some stories 09:35 you might've heard of such as, 'The Good Samaritan. ' 09:38 You would never find the story of the Good Samaritan in Matthew 09:42 because according to a Jew 09:44 a good Samaritan is not a good Samaritan. 09:49 It's an oxy-moron. 09:50 A Samaritan could not be good. 09:52 And a Samaritan could not be one 09:55 that would be worthy to be put into the book of Matthew. 09:58 So we find here, Jesus is the promised Messiah 10:02 The Savior of the Jews. 10:04 While Luke doesn't focus on Jesus as the Savior of the Jews. 10:09 In fact we find Luke saying 10:11 Jesus is the Savior to all peoples 10:15 of the world. 10:16 Let's look at that a little further and we'll find out why. 10:19 If you notice in Matthew, Matthew starts off by saying 10:24 that He is the son of David, the Son of Abraham. 10:28 But if you go down the lineage you will find also 10:32 that Jesus according to Matthew 10:36 goes all the way back to Abraham. 10:38 So he follows click, click, click all the way back 10:43 to David and then it goes back to Abraham. 10:45 But we find on the other hand 10:47 Luke does not go all the way back to Abraham. 10:50 Luke goes all the way back to the very beginning 10:53 to the very first man that was created by God. 10:55 And who was that? Adam. 10:57 Why does Luke go back to Adam? 11:01 Well, he does that because Adam 11:04 was the beginning of the human race. 11:07 Abraham was the beginning of the Jewish nation. 11:10 Another reason for the difference between 11:12 Matthew's and Luke's genealogy is that Matthew 11:16 traces Joseph's ancestry while Luke traces Mary's ancestry. 11:23 While we modern readers find 11:25 discrepancies between these genealogies 11:28 they undoubtedly created no difficulties 11:31 for their first century readers. 11:33 Because they understood more fully 11:35 the rules of making genealogies 11:37 And they had access to those 11:39 family genealogy records which we don't today. 11:43 that's why we find in Matthew 1:16 11:47 there is a subtle shift that 11:50 flows from Joseph to Mary. 11:53 Let's see what it says. 12:07 You see there is a subtle change that happens right there and 12:09 and it's for a good reason. 12:10 because Joseph was actually not the physical father of Jesus. 12:15 Mary was the physical mother of Jesus. 12:20 So let's look at this a little deeper and we'll find out. 12:23 I want to explain to you that Jews would not find it strange 12:27 in fact to begin a book with a genealogy. 12:29 It would be, however, shocking if they found in the genealogy 12:34 any information relating to a woman. 12:36 Because it was very odd to find women 12:39 in Jewish genealogies. 12:41 Because women, well let's just say women 12:43 had no legal rights. 12:45 Women were not regarded as a person 12:48 but as a thing. 12:51 It was very interesting that 12:54 people would actually pray, 12:57 Jewish males would pray every morning 12:59 and they would thank God that they were not gentiles 13:02 nor slaves nor a woman. 13:05 Even at that 13:06 Matthew's genealogy of Jesus 13:09 was provided to reflect a purity 13:12 of one's personal heritage. 13:15 So it would not have been 13:17 too shocking to find that Jesus 13:19 had female ancestors; we all do. 13:22 It wouldn't be shocking to us if we saw 13:25 names such as Sarah or Rebecca or Rachel. 13:28 But it seems Matthew researched the Old Testament records 13:33 until he found four of I guess you could say 13:36 the most questionable ancestors of Jesus. 13:41 And that's what we're going to look at. 13:43 And actually I don't think Matthew found them. 13:48 I think the Lord God wanted those names 13:51 in there for a very specific reason. 13:53 Because as you will see if you can follow me 13:56 there's a reason for this. 13:57 Let's briefly look at these names that are in there. 14:00 In the first story we find 14:04 Let me just show you the name. 14:05 In Matthew 1:3 we find the first name. 14:20 Now we find that Tamar is included in this story. 14:22 If you know Tamar's story 14:24 you'll find that it's a very interesting story. 14:27 Because it has almost a, as we call it in North America 14:30 an 'R' rating to it. 14:32 It's definitely not a story that you'd find 14:34 in a children's Bible story book. 14:36 In verse 6 of chapter 38 in Genesis we read here: 14:52 So here's Er the first born 14:53 finds a wife. 14:55 Her name is Tamar. 14:57 She is a Canaanite woman. 14:58 In the very next verse we find 15:00 that Er wasn't too righteous. 15:02 In fact, to the contrary 15:04 because he wasn't too righteous, 15:06 his life was cut a little short. 15:08 in the next verse, verse 8 15:10 we find that Judah told his next son in line, Onan 15:14 to take Tamar and make some children for them. 15:18 Because Onan actually failed to perform in procreation 15:24 God wasn't too pleased with his methodologies 15:27 and so ended his life. 15:29 It was customary in the Near Eastern culture 15:32 to have the next brother in line 15:34 to take the wife to be the next in line 15:37 in case there was a death of an older brother. 15:39 Now with two sons down 15:41 Judah only had one left, Shelah. 15:45 And we find in Genesis 38:11 15:49 We find something interesting happens here 16:13 Here we find Judah. Judah says to Tamar, 16:15 "Look Tamar, two of my sons, " 16:17 "the two that you were married to, they're gone. " 16:20 "the next one the last one I have " 16:22 "he's not really quite old enough. " 16:24 "Why don't you go back to your father's house" 16:26 "When he's old enough I'll come and get you. " 16:29 "You can marry him. " 16:30 Well, we find out that Judah didn't actually live through 16:34 and he didn't fulfill his promise of finding her. 16:36 So Tamar, after a number of years 16:39 realizes that Judah is not going to live up to his promise. 16:43 So she disguises herself. 16:45 And if you continue reading on in that story 16:47 you'll find that as she disguises herself 16:50 she actually portrays herself to be a prostitute. 16:53 And she has an encounter with the unsuspecting Judah. 16:57 Wow! sounds like some soap opera. 17:00 Well, several months later we find 17:02 that the sins have shown up. 17:04 Tamar is pregnant. 17:06 And it's very difficult to hide the fact that she is pregnant. 17:10 Judah was so thrilled at the fact 17:12 that she has been caught red-handed 17:14 and he now has the opportunity to lay before her 17:18 and show everybody that she is worthy of death, 17:22 being burned to death. 17:24 Well, Tamar brought this thing that Judah had given her, 17:30 some things to show that it was he whom she had slept with. 17:35 Well, Tamar was actually holding that 'trump card' saying, 17:39 "Look Judah, you're the one who did it. " 17:42 "You're the one who got me pregnant here. " 17:43 Let's see what Genesis 38:26 says. 17:49 And what Judah replies here: 18:05 I'm sure that deciding on who 18:07 was more righteous would actually be quite difficult, 18:10 whether it be Judah or Tamar. 18:13 Matthew writes and he puts Tamar in there for a specific reason. 18:19 Well let's look at the next one. 18:22 The next person in line is actually Rahab. 18:25 Rahab is in Jesus' genealogy 18:28 and we find Rehab's story starting in Joshua 2:1. 18:32 Joshua 2:1 here's what it says 18:45 They came to Rahab who was a harlot. 18:48 She was basically the owner of a brothel. 18:52 And the spies came to her house to hide out 18:55 because they knew it was a public house. 18:57 and it was common for so many people 18:59 to be coming and going there. 19:01 Because so many people were coming and going 19:03 it was a perfect hideout for spies. 19:05 And that's what they were doing. 19:07 And Rahab hid them from the King. 19:09 Because she had heard about the God of Israel 19:12 and about all the miracles He had performed. 19:15 She had faith and believed in God. 19:18 That's also why she is listed 19:20 in the 'Faith Hall of Fame' that we find in Hebrews 11:31 19:25 Hebrews 11:31 19:40 So, it's very clear. 19:42 God had put Rahab in the genealogy 19:45 of Jesus for a specific reason. 19:47 Let's look at the third one. 19:49 The third one is Ruth. 19:50 We don't have any specific texts here because 19:53 although there is a book called Ruth 19:54 it doesn't tell the story of what happened 19:57 you'd have to look a little before Ruth. 19:59 But we know that Ruth is a third candidate 20:03 because she had very good character 20:07 but she came from a specially despised racial strain. 20:12 She was a Moabite. 20:13 Her story is actually found in Ruth chapter 1 20:16 Her people were the product 20:18 of actually an incestuous relationship 20:20 between Lot and his oldest unmarried daughter. 20:25 Scheming to preserve the family line 20:27 each of the daughters got their father drunk. 20:30 He slept with his daughters 20:32 unknowingly and by this 20:34 Lot fathered several children. 20:37 The son from the oldest daughter 20:40 was Moab, father of a people 20:43 who would become one of Israel's most relentless enemies. 20:48 Following the suggestion of Balaam 20:51 the Moabites later seduced the Israelites 20:54 into immorality and idolatry 20:56 resulting in a proclamation from God 20:58 through Moses that they may not enter 21:01 into the assemblies of the Lord 21:03 even down to the tenth generation. 21:05 And even though Ruth was not a prostitute 21:08 she was not an adulteress 21:10 her racial background in the eyes of a Jew 21:13 was just as serious. 21:15 the last one we're going to look at 21:17 is another female in Jesus' lineage 21:20 her name is Bathsheba. 21:23 But we find that Bathsheba is actually not listed 21:27 in the genealogy because we find that 21:29 Matthew implies that she is basically Uriah's wife. 21:35 He couldn't even name her. 21:37 Well Matthew's implying two points here. 21:40 The first being that although she was not 21:42 born an Israelite, legally she was probably considered 21:46 a Gentile through marriage. 21:48 The second being that Uriah's name 21:52 was the former husband of Bathsheba. 21:54 Let's look at that story in 2 Samuel 11:2-4 22:00 We find that David could not sleep. 22:02 and here's what it says: 22:29 Here, David couldn't sleep one night. 22:33 He went out and he saw Bathsheba. 22:35 He thought she was very beautiful. 22:37 He had his servant go and get Bathsheba 22:39 and bring her back to his palace. 22:42 Well, David created his own 'Watergate' scandal. 22:47 Scandals and deceptions to no avail 22:50 to the point that he ordered 22:52 his general of the army, Joab 22:54 to put Uriah the husband of Bathsheba 22:56 to the very front lines and to withdraw. 22:59 He did all this in order to have Uriah killed. 23:03 He was trying to cover-up his own grief and his own sins. 23:07 So here we have four women 23:09 We have Tamar, we have Rahab 23:13 we have Ruth and we have Bathsheba. 23:17 Three of the four women are caught in very gross sins 23:23 so why in the world would Matthew 23:25 who is writing to a Jewish readership 23:28 deliberately add these women to His genealogy? 23:31 Matthew writes about Mary saying, 23:34 "She will give birth to a son " 23:36 "and you are to give Him the name Jesus. " 23:39 Why Jesus? Because He will save His people 23:43 from their sins. 23:44 So the question is this, 23:46 What kind of people can Jesus save? 23:50 What type of people can God save by the One born of Mary? 23:54 The answer is very simple as it flashes 23:57 through the genealogy of Jesus. 23:59 Jesus can save people such as Tamar 24:02 Rahab, Bathsheba and Ruth 24:07 and David. 24:09 He can save Gentiles. He can save prostitutes. 24:12 He can save adulterers. He can save deceivers. 24:15 He can even save murderers. 24:17 He can save anyone including you. 24:20 Jesus didn't come to save people in their sins. 24:23 No, no, no, understand, Jesus came to save people 24:27 from their sins. 24:28 He came to enable us to conquer sin in our lives. 24:33 And that takes place actually on three levels. 24:36 Did you know that? 24:37 It takes place on the first level 24:39 through Jesus' sinless life and death on the cross. 24:43 He saved His people from the penalty of sin. 24:46 That's justification. 24:48 He came and He saved us from the penalty of sin. 24:51 The second one is: Jesus saves His people 24:54 from the power of sin. 24:56 You see right now, if you accept Jesus as your personal Savior 25:01 you are free from the penalty of sin. 25:03 When Jesus comes again 25:06 and we are caught up to meet Him and we are taken up to heaven 25:09 we will be saved from the presence or the power of sin. 25:13 through sanctification. 25:14 When He comes again and we are caught up with Him in the clouds 25:20 to be taken to heaven that's when the last one takes place. 25:23 Glorification. 25:25 That's when we will actually be free from the presence of sin. 25:29 There's a text I wanted to read you 25:31 it's taken from Desire of Ages page 25. 25:34 And here's what Ellen White writes, 26:04 Do you see? The reason that Matthew 26:08 has those four questionable names in there 26:10 is this very reason: Jesus came to save people. 26:15 He came to save me and He came to save you. 26:18 He came and He died on the cross for you friend. 26:22 Doesn't that mean something to you? 26:24 No matter where you are, no matter what country 26:27 no matter what city, no matter what condition 26:30 you are in 26:31 there is nothing 26:32 that you can do 26:33 that can make God 26:35 love you any less than He loves you now. 26:37 All He is asking is that you give your heart to Him. 26:41 And in so doing He is ready to free you from your sins. 26:46 If you ask He will forgive. 26:49 No matter how much writing is on your slate. 26:51 He will wipe that clean. 26:53 He is ready. You have in-laws 26:57 and you have out-laws. 27:00 But it doesn't have to be that way. 27:01 You can be free from the penalty of sin. 27:06 Very soon we will be free from the presence of sin 27:11 and the power of sin. 27:14 Would you like to be free from sin? 27:16 Why don't you join me as we ask Jesus 27:19 to come into our hearts right now. 27:22 Let's pray. 27:24 Dear Heavenly Father, 27:25 we thank You for these four names 27:27 because these four names are so important 27:30 because it shows to us that Jesus 27:32 didn't come just to save the righteous people 27:34 He came to save the sinner 27:36 and we are all sinners in Your sight. 27:39 And Lord we know that you are coming very soon 27:41 we want to ask that You 27:43 take our hearts, cleanse them of all unrighteousness. 27:46 Make us worthy to be able to enter into your Kingdom 27:50 for we pray all these things in Jesus name, Amen. |
Revised 2014-12-17