Verse 8 says, “Joram begot Uzziah.” Compare this record with 1 Chronicles 3:11 and 12, which say, “Joram his son, Ahaziah his son, Joash his son, Amaziah his son, Azariah” (who is Ozias or Uzziah—2 Kings 15:1, 13). Matthew omitted three generations which are found in 1 Chronicles—Ahaziah, Joash, and Amaziah.
This must have been due to the evil marriage of Joram to the daughter of Ahab and Jezebel, which corrupted his descendants (2 Chron. 21:5-6; 22:1-4). Ahab was the king of the northern kingdom, and his wife Jezebel was a wicked woman who was fully related to idols. Because she was one with the Devil, she corrupted her husband. They brought forth a daughter, and Joram, one of the kings of Judah, married her. This woman taught Joram to worship idols, to be one with the idols. Thus their family was corrupted. According to Exodus 20:5, three generations of Joram’s descendants were cut off from the generation of Christ. Exodus 20:5 says that anyone who forsakes God and worships idols corrupts himself and will suffer God’s curse for three or four generations. Therefore, three generations of King Joram were cut off from the genealogy of Christ. Here we must learn a lesson. If we would be associated with Christ, we should never be involved with anything related to idols. God is a jealous God and He will never tolerate idolatry.
Verse 11 says, “Josiah begot Jeconiah.” Compare this record with “the sons of Josiah...the second Jehoiakim...and the sons of Jehoiakim; Jeconiah his son” (1 Chron. 3:15-16). One generation—Jehoiakim—was omitted from the genealogy of Christ. This must have been because he was made king by Pharaoh of Egypt and collected tax for Pharaoh (2 Kings 23:34-35). Because he was so closely related to Egypt, he was excluded from the genealogy of Christ. Egypt represents the world. From these two records we see that anyone who is related to idols or associated with the world will be excluded from the generation of Christ.
Those who were carried away to Babylon as captives (vv. 11-12) were indirectly related to Christ through their descendant Joseph’s marriage with Mary. Even these captives are included in this sacred record of Christ’s genealogy because they had an indirect relationship through Mary, the mother of Jesus.
Jeconiah was not reckoned as a king in this genealogy because he was born during the captivity and was carried away as a captive (2 Chron. 36:9-10, Jehoiachin is Jeconiah). According to the prophecy of Jeremiah 22:28-30, none of Jeconiah’s descendants would inherit the throne of David. All of his descendants were cut off from David’s throne. If Christ had been a direct descendant of Jeconiah, He would not have been entitled to the throne of David. Although Jeremiah 22:28-30 says that all the descendants of Jeconiah are excluded from the throne of David, the next chapter, verse 5, says that God will raise up a branch to David, a King who will reign and prosper. This Branch is Christ. This prophecy confirms that Christ will be the descendant of David, although not a direct descendant of Jeconiah, and will inherit the throne of David.
Verse 12 says, “Jeconiah begot Salathiel; and Salathiel begot Zerubbabel.” Compare this record with that in 1 Chronicles 3:17-19, “the sons of Jeconiah...Salathiel...and Pedaiah...and the sons of Pedaiah were Zerubbabel...,” showing that Zerubbabel was the son of Pedaiah, Salathiel’s brother. Zerubbabel was not Salathiel’s son, but his nephew, who became his heir. Perhaps this was a case in accordance with Deuteronomy 25:5 and 6, which say that if a man dies without a son as his heir, his brother must marry his wife in order to produce a son to be his heir. Without this case, we cannot understand why there is such a regulation in Deuteronomy 25. Even that word in Deuteronomy is related to the genealogy of Christ.