verses 2-6
Abraham-- There is a lot of stuff on Abraham! God promises Abraham that he will have many, many grandkids and great grand kids and so on and so forth and that all the nations will be blessed through Abraham's offspring. We know this to be a prophecy of Jesus who blessed all nations and was one of Abraham's descendants. It was hard for Abraham to believe this promise at first because he was already 99 years old and his wife Sarah was old enough that she had already gone through menopause and they had been unable to have children. But he believed God with some mistakes here and there and God blessed him with a son. You can read more awesome details about this story beginning in Genesis 17
Isaac-- This is the son that God blessed Abraham with! There is a lot to the story of Isaac along with some sad half-sibling rivalry you can read about beginning in Genesis 21. Probably the most prominent story in Isaac's life is the one of Abraham being willing to give Isaac up in obedience to God (Genesis 22). God tested Abraham by asking him to sacrifice his son Isaac. Abraham had complete faith in God to provide, knowing that God could even raise Isaac from the dead and so hesitated not in his obedience. Of course, at the last moment, God stepped in and provided another sacrifice, a ram caught in the thicket. This story foreshadows the great act of God sacrificing His son for us. Jesus died so that we don't have to.
Jacob-- In Genesis 24 God gives Isaac a wife, Rebekah and they have Jacob a quiet indoor guy and Esau a wild, hairy hunter guy-- twins. Of course, the parents each played favorites and there was some sad sibling rivalry. The short of it is that God chose Jacob for his service and to be in the lineage of Jesus.
The sibling rivalry at its hottest, Jacob was sent away to the east. He met Rachel (Genesis 29) and instantly fell in love with her. Jacob worked for Rachel's father for 7 years to marry Rachel, but on the wedding night he was given lazy-eyed Leah, Rachel's sister instead. It was dim and sister's can look alike in the dark. She probably didn't say much and he perhaps assumed she was shy it being her wedding night and all. In the morning he realized the trick and was very sad, because he loved Rachel. Well, after the honeymoon week was up with Lazy-eyed Leah, the father-in-law gave him Rachel too in exchange for another 7 years of indentured servitude. Needless to say, in this generation there is some seriously sad sibling rivalry again! This time between sisters. Of course Leah was hurt because she was not loved like Rachel. God saw this and gave Leah children and Rachel was barren. Out of jealousy Leah rubbed it Rachel's face for a long time that she couldn't have children. Finally, God opened Rachel's womb and she had sons. But the next person mentioned in this genealogy, isn't one of Rachel's sons. Its Judah, one of Leah the unloved wife's sons.
Judah-- The most prominent stories about Judah are some of big mistakes. He sold his brother Joseph (Rachel's son) into slavery to the Egyptians (Genesis 37). At least he didn't kill Joseph like most of his brothers wanted, right?
The other big mistake Judah made was withholding blessing from a widow. Throughout the whole Bible God is always saying, "Take care of orphans and widows" and Judah learned the hard way, what happens when God sees you cheat a widow.
It begins with his first son Er (Genesis 38). He took a wife for his son Er and her name was Tamar. But Er, Judah's firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the Lord and the Lord put him to death leaving Tamar a widow.
Then Judah gave Tamar to his second son Onan to be his wife. The custom was that Onan was supposed to give Tamar a child in honor of his brother Er and that Tamar's child would receive Er's inheritance. Onan was selfish and therefore didn't want to give Tamar a child who would receive Er's inheritance. However, he still wanted his jollies, so he had his way with Tamar but used the pull-out method. God saw Onan as wicked just like his brother and so put him to death too.
At this, Judah was afraid of Tamar (as if it were her fault his kids were evil) and wouldn't give her his third son to marry. Instead he sent her away as a widow shamefully because everyone knew he still had a third son.
As time went on, and Tamar was still living shamefully as a widow even though Judah's third son was fully grown, Tamar took the situation into her own hands. Judah's wife had died by this time and Tamar knew the kind of character Judah had. Tamar disguised herself as a cult prostitute, covering her face with a veil, and waited on the road where she knew Judah would be. Judah let her hold on to his signet, cord and staff as collateral for her services and had intercourse with her. She got pregnant.
Three months later, Judah found out that his daughter-in-law Tamar was pregnant. In his hypocrisy he was going to have her burned even though he knew he had done the same thing! Tamar was able to produce his cord and staff and signet, proving that Judah was in fact the father. At this Judah repented and said, "She is more righteous than I, since I did not give her to my son Shela." And he never slept with her again. Tamar had twins! Their names were Perez and Zerah.
Perez and Zerah-- When Tamar was in labor with these two (Genesis 38:28-30), one put out a hand, and the midwife took and tied a red string around his wrist so that she could remember which one was being born first. But the baby pulled his hand back in and his brother came out first! So they named the first baby Perez (rule-breaker) and the baby with the red string was named Zerah.
Hezron (Genesis 46:12), Aram (or Ram) and Amminadab (Ruth 4:19) don't seem to have much recorded about them except listing their names in the family tree. Let me know if I've missed some. Its very Jewish to skip over people's names if they did nothing memorable.
Nahshon-- He was called a prince of Judah (1 Chronicles 2:10)! He was chief over the tribe of Judah (Numbers 2:3) and given the honor of bringing the offerings for Judah (Numbers 7:11-13,17; 10:14)
Salmon-- the thing so memorable about him is that he married Rahab. Rahab was a prostitute who lived in the wall of Jericoh and became an ally of the Israelites, helping them take the city (Joshua 2-6). Its pretty awesome that God chose someone like us, a prostitute to be in the family tree of Jesus. It speaks that He has forgiveness for us in any state.
Boaz-- Like his father Salmon, Boaz chose to marry a foreign girl. He married Ruth because as a widow, she had the integrity to take care of her elderly mother-in-law Naomi. She could have found a young man to marry and would have had better chances of financial security had she left Naomi but Ruth had the spiritual insight to humble herself and believe in Naomi's God, the God of the Israelites. You can read this romantic story in the book of Ruth. Having Ruth in the family tree of Jesus also speaks volumes of God's love for all people of every race, whether Jew or Gentile.
Obed-- Obed was Ruth's biological son, but out of Ruth's kindness, he was given to her mother-in-law Naomi. The people in town used to call him "Naomi's baby" (Ruth 4:17).
Jesse-- He was the father of 8 sons, the younger of which was David (1 Samuel 17:12).
David-- From a young age, it is clear that God had chosen David to be the king over Israel (1 Samuel 16)! Perhaps all that time alone tending his father Jesse's livestock doubled as time to practice his music, because David was so renowned for his musical skill and talent, that it was his music that earned David his first audience with King Saul! Also a skilled songwriter, many of the Psalms are penned by this very same David. King Saul probably wouldn't have thought that this little shepherd boy playing the harp, would be the one God would choose to take his throne. Saul loved David so much that he remained in the King's service, going back and forth from Saul to his father Jesse to tend his father's sheep and also serve as Saul's armor bearer.
David's military career began with a crazy one-on-one that I would have paid dearly to watch in any mma arena! David, clearly the underdog being only a youth, killed Goliath, the enemies prize fighter and a real giant (1 Samuel 17)! David attributed his bravery in fighting to all the training he got fighting off bears and lions to protect his dad's flock! He was such a kid at the time of this fight, that when the king tried to lend him his armor for the fight, David couldn't wear it for its heaviness! So he won the duel unarmed except for a slingshot and some stones. Talk about some stones! David said to the Philistine before the match, "You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied (1 Samuel 17:44-46)." I'm starting to see why God liked this kid!
David's character earned him a best friend in the King's son Jonathan. They had the kind of friendship that comes around once or twice in a lifetime. They would have done anything for each other. Jonathan was next in line to the throne after Saul, but even when it was clear to Jonathan that David should be king, there was no rivalry between them!
However, David's bravery and success in battle also earned him the King's jealousy which led to the long drawn out drama that God used to hand the throne over to David. This was a dark time in David's life and you can read more about what was happening in 2 Samuel and more about how he was feeling in the Psalms. Its especially encouraging if you are going through a tough time yourself.
David began to reign when he was thirty and was a very good king. David reigned with justice, equity and kindness and God blessed him in everything that he did. You can read many more riveting tales about the awesome adventures of David all throughout 1 and 2 Samuel. Before I get off the subject of David however, I will share one of his big mistakes. Even a man like David, who loved God so much, still made huge blunders here and there. Lets examine David's struggle with sin and apply some of the principles we find to not only avoid sin in our own life but also accept God's forgiveness for the times when we fail.
The first principle to help us avoid sin that is found in the story of David, is properly coined by a dear friend of mine, Bill Trenckmann, "Idleness leads to Idolatry". You see, "In the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to 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 (2 Samuel 11:1-3)." The story begins this way to show us that David was supposed to be out with his troops like the good king that he normally was, but instead he had chosen to stay home and slack off. Too much extra time on our hands, or not filling our time with what we're called to do gives us plenty of time to do other things, including sin. This is exactly what happened to David. He was out for a relaxing evening stroll on the roof of his palace instead of being out of town with his army. Ask yourself: are there areas of your life that show laziness? Do you ignore what you are supposed to do at times? How can this lead to sin in your life?
The second principle I see is that we should have wisdom considering where we let ourselves spend time and ask ourselves if it is truly a good idea. The roof of the palace was of course higher than the surrounding homes because of its sheer grandness. The architecture of the average house back then left an unroofed courtyard in the middle of the house where most people would have their baths. Being walled in except for the roof, it normally gave people plenty of privacy. The palace roof probably would have been the only place in town high enough for any of these courtyards to be in someone's line of vision unless you were in the courtyard yourself. Yet this is exactly where David chose to be. "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 11:1-3)." I liken this to a person who knows they have a problem with lust, spending lots of time in an office alone with a computer that is complete with internet service. It all goes downhill from there. Ask yourself: what are your areas of weakness? What places should you avoid to protect this weak spot?
David sent for the woman whose name was Bathsheba and promptly impregnated her (although I'm sure pregnancy wasn't what he was planning for). Bathsheba's admirable husband Uriah was out to war making it difficult to hide the cheating. In order to cover up his sin, David had Uriah, a good man, murdered in battle. There were major consequences for David's actions, one of which was that Bathsheba's baby died at infancy (talk about stress not being good for pregnancy) and there began to be unrest in David's kingdom. Rivals arose from David's own sons revealing some heart-wrenching family issues.
However, David humbled himself before the Lord and felt great anguish for what he had done, therefore God forgave. He also used David's disaster for good as He does in everything. David married Bathsheba and she gave him another child whose name was Solomon. The Lord loved Solomon.
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