Resurrection Life of Jesus Church

GENEAOLOGY OF JOSEPH
The first thing that Matthew wanted to establish was the lineage of Joseph, the stepfather to Jesus. This was important since there had been forced conversions to Judaism by different people groups conquered by Hyrcanus and his descendants. It was troubling to the Jews that Esau’s descendants had become part of Judaism.  Matthew wanted to establish that Joseph was a direct descendent of Abraham.  Matthew 1:1-17

Matthew’s genealogy differs from Luke’s account, who traced the genealogy of Mary.  Luke 3:23-40

THE VIRGIN BIRTH
Matthew laid out the genealogy and set out to establish the virgin birth. verse 18

He did not provide details about the virgin birth and the Gospel of Luke reveals more about the incarnation. Luke 1:26-38

MARRIAGE
Marriage at the time of Christ was different from today. It is impossible to compare it with the modern traditions of the western world.

1. The parents of a young boy would look around their village or city for a family with a girl of the same age. The father would conduct a background check on the potential bride’s family to determine if they attended synagogue, lived a moral life, was financially responsible, etc.

2. If the son’s parents felt that the other family was a good match, they would be contacted to determine if the girl’s parents were open to a union.

3. The parents of the girl conducted their own background check on the boy’s parents, and if they liked what they saw, there would be a negotiation over the bride price.

4. Once the price was paid, both families went to the courthouse at the gate of the village or city and had the marriage recorded. The children were at that point officially espoused even though they were around five years old and too young to marry.

5. Each respective child continued to live with their parents. They would not necessarily see each other again until the day of the wedding feast when they were older.

Jewish law stated that if an espoused woman became pregnant from another man, she was to be taken outside the city and stoned to death. Deuteronomy 22:13-29

JOSEPH DOUBTED MARY
When Mary sent word to Joseph that she was pregnant before their wedding, he did not believe her account being impregnated by God, but because he loved Mary and did not want to see her executed, Joseph devised a plan to send her away. Matthew 1:19

God knew that Joseph would only accept Mary’s explanation if it could be corroborated in a supernatural way. An angel was dispatched with the message that Mary had not committed adultery and that the child in her womb was in fact incarnated by God. verses 20-23

Joseph was satisfied with the supernatural revelation, called for the wedding, and took Mary to live with him. Unlike a new husband, he made sure not to engage in sexual intercourse with Mary while she was pregnant with the Son of God. verses 24-25

GOD IS ALL-KNOWING
The creation account began in eternity past in the city of God located in the third heaven. God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit discussed the fall of mankind and the redemption plan for the human race. It was agreed upon that the Son would inhabit a human body and pay for the sins of humanity. 1 Peter 1:18-20

It was also agreed upon that Enoch would be a prophet for the Godhead. Enoch was born six generations (622 years) after the creation of Adam. Genesis 5:18-24; Hebrews 11:5; Jude 14-15

Enoch was given the following revelation:

“At that hour, the Son of man was given a name, in the presence of the Lord of the Spirits, the Before Time, even before the creation of the sun and the moon, before the creation of the stars, he was given a name in the presence of the Lord of Spirit.

He will become the light of the gentiles and he will become the hope of those who are sick in their hearts. All those who dwell upon the earth shall fall and worship before him; they shall glorify, bless and sing the name of the Lord of Spirits. For this purpose he became the Chosen One; he was concealed in the presence of the Lord of the Spirits prior to the creation of the world and for eternity.” 1 Enoch 48:1-5

The apostle Paul said that Satan and his fallen angels knew about the future Messiah, they just didn’t know how the Messiah intended to save the human race. 1 Corinthians 2:7-8

Noah was born three generations later (434 years). He possessed the Genesis account of the creation, as well as the books of Enoch, which were recorded prior to his translation to heaven.

After the flood Noah settled in modern day Iraq and copies of the creation account and the books of Enoch were made. Noah’s sons added to the Genesis narrative after his death and each subsequent generation continued to add to the historical account.

Copies of the Genesis account and the Books of Enoch eventually reached Terah, the father of Abraham, and from this point the chronological account became the history of Abraham’s descendants – Israel.

Terah and Abraham lived in the city of Ur, which was the metropolis of the Chaldeans. Copies of the Genesis account and the Books of Enoch would continue to be preserved for the next 2,161 years until the birth of Jesus.

THE STAR GOSPEL
There was a group of Chaldeans who maintained their faith in God and preserved the written records of Genesis and the prophet Enoch. This group is known as “wise men” in the New Testament because of their knowledge of astronomy. They had received a prophecy about the coming Messiah that was not shared with Abraham. They were told the planets and stars would line up in a certain way as a sign that the Messiah had been born on earth. Matthew 2:2

When wise men some 2,161 years later saw the expected star, they set out to find the promised Messiah. The star was a supernatural sign, similar to the pillar of a cloud/fire that guided the Israelites in the desert. Exodus 13:21-22

The wise men seeking for the Messiah were wealthy and it would have been a large caravan with soldiers, servants and supplies. This is why they received an audience with Herod the Great upon arriving to Jerusalem. He recognized that these were powerful men of great importance.

Herod was a vassal king of the Romans, but he quickly realized that these wise men represented a power from the East. As a sly political operator, he wanted to be on their good side since he didn’t know if they were more powerful than Rome. Matthew 2:1-3

Herod was a descendant of Esau and therefore was not familiar with the Old Testament. When these wise men requested to see the King of the Jews, he panicked and summoned the priests and scribes to his palace to inform him what God had predicted concerning the Messiah. verses 4-6

Herod did not want the wise men to know that he was ignorant of the Old Testament, so they were not present when he spoke to the religious leaders. Only after he determined what the prophets had spoken about the Messiah did he arrange a private meeting with the wise men to discover what they knew about Jesus. verses 7-8

Herod had no intention of worshiping the Messiah; he simply wanted to find this rival and murder him. Due to his respect for the wise men, Herod asked them to return and give him a report on the matter. Herod was a slick politician and did not want the world to know that he was planning to murder the Messiah in order to consolidate his hold on Judea.

The supernatural star/light guided the wise men to the house in Bethlehem where Jesus was located. verses 9-11; Jeremiah 1:4-7