Biblical genealogies...

So today I started writing my Master thesis...    

The topic is - guess what - GENEALOGY. To be specific: the genealogy of Jesus in Mt 1:1-17. FUN! Though from conversations I've had with people, I generally get the impression most people either force their way through genealogies (have you ever tried reading 1 Chronicles 1-9? I'm currently slowly ploughing my way through it... it's 9 chapters of name lists and genealogies ) or skip them altogether.

The reason I'm writing about Mt 1:1-17 is that I think the genealogies are in the Bible for a reason, and have a purpose and meaning. They're not just trying to make some "historical" statement (in fact they're most likely not even attempting to be historical, if you compare the sometimes conflicting genealogies contained in the Bible) but have a theological message behind them (which is why the Matthew and Luke genealogies of Jesus are so different - though there have been people trying to harmonise them).

If one looks closely, there's a few interesting tidbits in there, e.g. most famously the fact that 4 women are mentioned in it (and instead of picking decent women like Sarah and Rebekah, Matthew had to pick 4 embarrassing ones), or the fact that the counting doesn't quite work out (according to v.17 it should be 3x14 generations) (so assuming that Matthew wasn't as bad at counting as I am - and I'm sure he wasn't, how would the counting make sense?) (plus, what does the "14" mean? Some say it means "David" because - really cool fact - the Hebrew letters all have a number value and David = DVD = 4+6+4).

What the genealogy in Matthew does is it connects back to the Old Testament - it shows that Jesus is the fulfillment of the promises of the OT (promises to Abraham and David), and that the OT still counts. Jesus is the Messiah of Israel - so the Christian church (in the time when Matthew was writing, it was still in formation, possibly still connected to Judaism though in conflict with some Jewish leaders) is not a "replacement" of Israel, but part of it - while also open to all people (as shown through the 4 embarrassing ladies, most of whom are either non-Jews / converts to Judaism or in another way connected to foreigners). That is just one aspect - really, it's choc-a-bloc with cool stuff.  

So grab a Bible and read the genealogy or sit down with a pencil and paper and really study the genealogy and all the connections. E.g. who are the people mentioned there, what are their stories (if we even know their stories - those after the Exile are almost all unknown and not mentioned in the OT)? Why have some people been left out, while others left in? (Some say that a few kings have been left out because they were sinful - but some of the worst sinners, e.g. Manasseh, are still in! Plus David's sin is highlighted with the Bathsheba story.) Genealogies are often used to show someone's "pedigree", or to prove that someone is fit for a high-up position e.g. as priest or king. Jesus is Priest and King, He is the Messiah - in some ways, the genealogy shows He is the perfect Messiah, fulfilling what God promised the Messiah would be (e.g. Son of David) - in other ways, it's not a particularly good advertisement (e.g. those women with bad reputations, or the fact that Jesus isn't physically related to David at all). I think all that tells us something! About how God fulfills promises, about how God goes above our expectations, about how God accepts and purifies sinners, ...

SO YES, the genealogy is FUN.  

Aaaaaaaaaaanyway I should actually be working on the introduction (because my aim was to get it done tonight, and if I don't get it done on time I can't go to home group, and I probably should go to home group, and...). Which is - for a change - kind of fun to write because for now I'm just repeating all the complaints I keep hearing about genealogies being boring and irrelevant to the average modern Christian. (SPOILER: my conclusion is they're fun and relevant!)

So what kind of genealogy-reader are you? The "force-your-way-through-it" type, or the skipper, or a big genealogy fan who finds a meaning behind each random name? (I like genealogies, never skip them, but especially in Chronicles I still get confused about random names popping out from nowhere, or people having the same name, or someone's sons' names suddenly being way different in a second version of the same genealogy. I love the Genesis genealogies, because I find messages in them - the Chronicles ones are so tangled up and spread out that so far I'm having difficulty and clinging on to the small stories like Jabez' prayer in between all the names haha...)

I might just disappear into hermit-dom for the next two months until I'm done with the thesis. Though I still have one poem to upload but... meh... later...