According to Jewish custom, a writer of a genealogy would never include a female name; he would include only the names of males. But in this brief genealogy five women are mentioned. These five women are like the fingers of my hand: four form one group and the other one stands alone. Four of these five women were remarried, and one of the four was a harlot. It seems that the divine record here would not mention the good ones, such as Sarah or Rebekah, but the bad ones. Listen to the divine record: “David begot Solomon of the wife of Uriah” (1:6). The record does not even give her name; it gives only her history in order to remind us of what kind of person she was.
Do you know the history of Tamar? She was the daughter-in-law of Judah. Judah begot twins of his daughter-in-law (Gen. 38:24-30). How terrible! The second woman named is Rahab, the harlot of Jericho, and the third, Ruth, a Moabitess. The Moabites were not allowed to enter the congregation of the Lord even to their tenth generation (Deut. 23:3). The Moabites are descendants of Moab, who was born of Lot with his daughter. The fourth woman was Bathsheba, the wife of a Canaanite named Uriah whom David murdered. David took her to be his wife, and with her he begot Solomon.
Why does this brief record mention all these women? It is because they are our representatives. Do not think you are so pure, that you are more pure than these women. Trace your own origin. If you do, you will find out by what way and of whom your grandfather was born, by what way and of whom your father was born, and by what way and of whom you were born. We are worse. But the worst ones are included in the generation of Christ! Praise the Lord! He is truly the Savior of sinners.
The number four signifies all the creatures, including the entire human race. Humanity is dirty; no one is clean. But, thank the Lord, we are all associated with Christ. We are part of the generation of Christ.
If we were to write a biography of Christ and there were no biographies of Him in the Bible, we would not dare to write it this way. We would hide all these impure grandmothers and give the names of the good grandmothers, such as Sarah and Rebekah. But the Holy Spirit did not mention Sarah, Rebekah, and all the good ones; however, He purposely included these impure ones. If this divine record had listed the names of the good women without the names of the impure ones, I would be in doubt about the present situation of the church. I would say, “Look at today’s situation in the church. Not many are very pure.” Do not think that you are so pure, so clean. We are not pure. Nevertheless, the generation of Christ includes both good ones and bad ones. In fact, it includes more bad ones than good ones.
Besides the four remarried women, a virgin stands out: Mary, the mother of Jesus. Mary was good, pure, and clean. This indicates that everyone mentioned in this book of generation is a sinner except Jesus. With the exception of Jesus, all are unclean.
Christ is the son of David (Matt. 22:42, 45; Rev. 22:16). Solomon, the son of David, was a type of Christ in three main aspects. First, he was a type of Christ inheriting the kingdom (2 Sam. 7:12b, 13; Jer. 23:5; Luke 1:32-33). Second, Solomon had wisdom and spoke the word of wisdom. In Matthew 12 we see that Christ also had wisdom and spoke the word of wisdom. In this chapter Christ referred to Himself as the greater Solomon (v. 42). A greater than Solomon was there, and He spoke words of wisdom. No human words are as wise as the words of Christ. Third, Solomon built the temple of God (2 Sam. 7:13). As the son of David, Christ builds up God’s temple, the church.
Christ is also the son of Abraham. This book of generation says only that Christ is the son of David and the son of Abraham, not the son of any one else. In the Old Testament there was a clear prophecy that Christ would be the son of Abraham. Isaac was a type of Christ. With Isaac as a type of Christ there were also three main aspects. First, Isaac brought the blessing to all nations, both Jews and Gentiles (Gen. 22:18a; Gal. 3:16, 14). Second, he was offered to God unto death and was resurrected (Gen. 22:1-12; Heb. 11:17, 19). Third, he received the bride (Gen. 24:67). This is a type of Christ as the promised One who brought the blessing to all nations, who was also offered to death, who was resurrected, and who, after His resurrection, will receive His Bride (John 3:29; Rev. 19:7). One day the Holy Spirit, typified by Abraham’s servant, will bring the spiritual, divine, heavenly Rebekah to her heavenly Isaac.
The son of Abraham received the bride, and the son of David built up the temple. With Christ, the Bride is the temple, and the temple is the Bride. This is why it says that Christ is the son of Abraham and the son of David. He offered Himself unto death and was resurrected, now He is building God’s temple, and in the future He will receive the Bride. Christ also spoke wisdom and brought God’s blessing to all nations. He is the One to fulfill all of these things. In the four Gospels we can find each of these six aspects. The Gospels reveal that Christ came to inherit the kingdom, that He offered Himself unto death and He was resurrected, that He spoke the word of wisdom, that He brought blessing to all people, that He is building up God’s house, and that He will come to receive the Bride. Christ is surely the real Isaac and the real Solomon.
As the son of David, Jesus was a great blessing to the Jews. But as the son of Abraham, He brings blessing to all the Gentiles. As the son of David, He is for the Jews; as the son of Abraham, He is for us all. If Jesus were only the son of David, He would have nothing to do with me. Praise the Lord that He is also the son of Abraham! All nations are blessed in Abraham’s seed, which is Christ. This blessing is the participation in the Triune God. The blessing which God promised to Abraham was the Spirit (Gal. 3:14), and the Spirit is the ultimate realization of the Triune God. By Christ as the son of Abraham, we have the Spirit, and we share in the Triune God. Hallelujah!