The reason for the genealogy of Genesis was because from the beginning God gave us prophecies about through what genealogical line the Messiah would come. The Messiah would be a:

1. Descendent of Shem, Noah’s first born (Gen 9:26-27)
2. Descendent of Abraham (Gen 12:3, Gal 3:16)
3. Descendent of Isaac (Gen 26:4, Gal 3:8)
4. Descendent of The Tribe of Judah (Gen 49:10, Psalm 78:67-68, Heb 7:14)
5. Descendent of Jesse (Isaiah 11:1-2; Luke 3:23, 32)
6. Descendent of David (2 Samuel 7:16, Isaiah 9:6-7, Micah 5:2-4)

1. He would come through the line of Shem, Noah’s first born (Gen 9:26-27)

• This was fulfilled in God’s choice of Abraham and of Israel, Shem’s descendants.
• The Greek word for Shem is Sem from which we get the word Semite. Anti-Semitism means "Hatred of the Jews."
• The Generations of Shem (Gen 11:10-26) stretch from Shem to Abraham, covering ten generations — 437 years, probably written by Shem because His life psanned the period covering it: 98 years before the flood and 502 after. Abraham had been in Canaan 75 years when he died.
• Shem was also "the father of all the children of Eber." The term Hebrew is derived from the name Eber (Gen 10:21, Num 24:24) and means "to pass over." The Messiah coming through the line of Shem was fulfilled in Luke 3:36 where Luke tells us that Jesus came through the line of Shem.

2. The Messiah would be a Descendent of Abraham (Gen 12:3, Gal 3:16)

• Matthew records in Matthew 1:1, "The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham."
• Abraham, a descendent of Shem, was fifty years old when Noah died. His name means "Father of a great multitude." He was originally a Gentile, but he became the first man to be called a Hebrew (Gen 14:13).
• Through Abraham came Isaac, then Jacob through whom came the twelve tribes of Israel. Abraham was also the father of the Arab nations through his son Ishmael.
• God told Abraham in Genesis 12:3, "In you shall all families of the earth be blessed." The Apostle Paul explains to us in Galatians 3:16 that this promise was fulfilled in the person of Jesus Christ.

3. The Messiah would be a Descendent of Isaac (Gen 26:4, Gal 3:8)

• God told Isaac, Abraham’s son, that through his Seed all the nations would be blessed (Gen 26:4). The Apostle Paul tells us that this prophecy was fulfilled in Christ (Galatians 3:8).

4. The Messiah would be a Descendent of The Tribe of Judah (Gen 49:10, Psalm 78:67-68, Heb 7:14).

• Asaph, in Psalm 78:67-68, tells us that God chose the tribe of Judah, descendants of Shem, through which the Messiah was to be born.
• Jacob, the father of Judah, on his death bed prophesied, "The scepter shall not depart from Judah. . . until Shiloh comes" (Gen 49:10). The term Shiloh has always been recognized as a name of the Messiah. It means "peace" or "one sent." As the Messiah, or Sent One, Jesus came before Judah lost its tribal identity.
• The writer of Hebrews tells us about Jesus: "For it is evident that our Lord sprang out of Judah" (Heb 7:14)
• The Apostle John calls Jesus in Revelation 5:5, "The Lion of the tribe of Judah."

The Scepter: Though in Israel’s history they had lost their personal national identity and had for a time been dominated by Babylon, not until they came under Roman domination did they lose their right to rule their own people with the death penalty which the scepter symbolized. All the nations under Roman dominance had this right removed. As Tacitus said, "... The Romans reserved to themselves the right of the sword, and neglected all else." Later it was written in the Talmud: "a little more than forty years before the destruction of the Temple, the power of pronouncing capital sentences was taken away from the Jews." Rabbi Rachmon wrote,

"When the members of the Sanhedrin found themselves deprived of their right over life and death, a general consternation took possession of them; they covered their heads with ashes, and their bodies with sackcloth, exclaiming: ‘Woe unto us, for the scepter has departed from Judah, and the Messiah has not come!’"

But the Messiah had come and was alive walking in their midst.

5. The Messiah would be a Descendent of Jesse (Isaiah 11:1-2; Luke 3:23, 32)

"Then a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse, and a branch from his roots will bear fruit. And the Spirit of Yehovah will rest on Him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and strength, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of Yehovah." (Isaiah 11:1-2)

• Luke tells us that Jesus descended from Jesse (Luke 3:23, 32), that the spirit descended upon Jesus (Luke 4:18) and the Apostle John tells us in Revelation 2:17 and 12:5 that when Jesus comes back to earth that He will rule with a rod of iron.

6. The Messiah would be a Descendent of David (2 Samuel 7:16, Isaiah 9:6-7,
    Micah 5:2-4)

"And your house and your kingdom shall endure before Me forever; your throne shall be established forever."’" (2 Samuel 7:16)

"For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; and the government will rest on His shoulders; and His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, El-Almighty, Father-of-Eternity, Prince-of-Peace. There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness from then on and forevermore. The zeal of Yehovah of hosts will accomplish this." (Isaiah 9:6-7)

• Jesse was an unknown person. He was not the head of a royal family, but God made him the father of a king, David, putting him in the royal Messianic line.
• Matthew’s genealogy mentions David’s name five times and his name dominates the Old Testament appearing fifty-eight times. God assured David in 2 Samuel 7:16 that his throne would endure forever and that the increase of his government would have no end in Isaiah 9:7. The fulfillment of these promises will come about through Jesus Christ, a descendant of David, when He returns and establishing His rule among men forever. Micah wrote in Micah 5:2, and 4 concerning the coming Messiah, Jesus Christ:

"But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from long ago, From the days of eternity. . . . And He will arise and shepherd His flock in the strength of Yehovah, In the majesty of the name of Yehovah His Elohim. And they will remain, because at that time He will be great to the ends of the earth." (Micah 5:2-4)

1. Luke’s genealogy gives us evidence that Mary and Joseph are relatives
    and truly of the line of Judah and David, lines through which the
    Messiah had to come.

2. Luke lists all 74 generations. Matthew lists one generation in fourteen.

3. Luke tells us that Joseph was the son of Heli, and it is conjectured
    with much probability that Mary was the daughter of Jacob. If it is
    assumed that Jacob, having no son, adopted Joseph, his nephew 
    and heir, we see that Mary married a relation, and that she, as well
    as Joseph, was descended from David, Joseph in the line of Solomon,
    and Mary, his wife in the line of Nathan.

4. Both genealogies show the descent of Joseph: Matthew shows his
    real descent and Luke his legal descent. Matthew shows Joseph’s
    legal descent to the throne of David. Luke shows his real parentage.

5. Both were needed to prove that redemption was no after thought on
    God’s part, but designed from the beginning.

6. In Matthew’s list, Abraham and David are singled out to prove the
    fulfillment of the promises and prophecies to Abraham 2,000 years
    before, and to David 1,000 years before. Luke takes us back to Adam,
    the father of the human race and brings the first Adam and the last
    Adam together - the two federal heads—Adam, of the human race;
    Christ, the Head of a redeemed people, His Church. In Adam we die,
    in Christ we are made alive. "So also it is written, ‘The first man,
    Adam, was created a living soul.’ The last Adam into a life giving
    Spirit." (1 Cor 15:45)

7. The period from Abraham to David is that of the patriarchs; from
    David to the Babylonian captivity, that of kings; and from the captivity
    to Christ, that of private individuals. The first and second periods
    have notable beginnings, but the third does not. It is the period of
    captivity because of sin and rebellion; yet it ends with the Messiah
    who came to set prisoners free. During the third period the people
    were a hierarchy with priests as mediators.

8. Israel’s history is exhibited through these three periods: growth,
    decline, ruin; her utter failure pointing to the need of redemption
    through Jesus Christ who heads each genealogy.

9. Luke gives us 41 descendants from David whereas Matthew only
    gives us 27. Matthew is tracing only heirs to the throne and so only
    comments on descendants that are recognized since "the heir of my
    heir is my heir." Others are omitted for spiritual reasons. For example:
    Simeon is omitted in Moses’ blessing on account of his cruelty
    (Deut 33) and Dan is excluded because of his idolatry (Rev 7:4-8).

10. A comparison of the two genealogies reveals the different standpoints
    of the genealogists. For instance:

• Matthew is writing for Jews and so gives Jesus’ legal descent and shows that He is the King of Israel. Luke is writing to Gentiles and therefore gives the natural descent.
• Matthew lists the descendents’ names downward from Abraham who is the father of the Jews, but also the spiritual father of the Gentiles (Gen 17:5, Rom 4:16-17). Luke, on the other hand, lists his names upward from Christ to Adam "who was the son of God" and both father of the Gentiles as well as the Jews who were all sinners alike (Rom 5:19).
• Luke writes of Christ as the Son of Man. Matthew presents Jesus as the legal and royal heir to the promises and prophecies given to Abraham and David.
• Luke shows the line of Mary which shows Jesus’ blood or physical descent as the "seed of David according to the flesh" (Rom 1:3). Matthew focuses on Jesus the King whereas Luke focuses on Jesus’ humanity. Both writers witness to the virgin birth of Jesus and His deity.

1. Mark’s task was to present Jesus as the true Servant of Yehovah. A
    servant is a slave and no one keeps or cares about the genealogy of
    a slave.

2. John leaves out any record of Jesus’ human descent because he believed
    his purpose in writing the Gospel of John was to establish that Jesus was
    Yehovah Elohim God in the flesh. Jesus had no beginning and his
    existence goes before any earthly genealogy of men to record.

3. The four Gospels show Jesus as King, Servant, Man and God.

The Book of Genesis
A Matter of Our Salvation

1. Christianity is based on the fulfillment of God’s prophecies to us of
    the coming Messiah to save us from our sins given to us in the book
    of Genesis.

1 This is why for the past 150 years Satan has worked so hard to try and
    discredit the book of Genesis through the Documentary Hypothesis,
    Higher Criticism, and all that is related. He has done this because he
    knows that if he can convince man that the book of Genesis is just
    made up, then man won’t take the teaching of the book of Genesis
    seriously. If man does not take the teachings of Genesis seriously then
    neither will he take his need of Jesus as Savior and Lord seriously.
    The end result will be that man will not be saved.

• Jesus Himself said that this would be the end result in John 5:46-47. Jesus said that if we do not take as absolute truth all that Moses wrote in the book of Genesis and the rest of the Torah that we will not take what He says as absolute truth or His salvation for us seriously either.

2. Jesus said that Moses was writing about Him? Who was Moses
    writing about? He was writing about Yehovah Elohim, the one and
    only true God. Therefore, Jesus in making this statement was claiming
    that He was Yehovah Elohim, the only true God Himself in the flesh.

John 2:22  "When therefore He was raised from the dead, His disciples remembered that He said this; and they believed the Scripture, and the word which Jesus had spoken."

2. If you don’t receive Jesus as Savior from your sins and as Lord over
      Your life, you will not be saved.

3. If you are not saved you cannot go to heaven. If you remain in this state
      of mind until you die, you will go to a Christless hell forever and ever
      and ever with no possible means of ever being able to be redeemed.

1. Lockyer, Herbert. All the Messianic Prophecies of the Bible. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, Copyright © 1973 by Hebert Lockyer.

2. McDowell, Josh. Evidence That Demands A Verdict, Vol. 1. San Bernardino: Here’s Life Publishers, 1979.

Matthew 1:21-23 "‘And she will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for it is He who will save His people from their sins.’ Now all this took place that what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet might be fulfilled, saying, "Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and shall bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel," which translated means, "God with us."’"

Genesis 4:1 "And the man knew Eve his wife. And she conceived and bore Cain, and said, I have gotten a man: Yehovah."

Genesis 9:26-27 "Blessed be Yehovah the Elohim of Shem."

Genesis 12:3 "And I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed."

Genesis 26:4 "And I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven, and will give your descendants all these lands; and in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed."

Matthew 1:1 "The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham."

Galatians 3:16 "Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. He does not say, ‘And to seeds,’ as referring to many, but rather to one, ‘And to your seed,’ that is, Christ."

Galatians 3:8 "And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, ‘All the nations shall be blessed in you.’"

Psalm 78:67-68 "He also rejected the tent of Joseph, and did not choose the tribe of Ephraim, But chose the tribe of Judah, mount Zion which He loved."

Genesis 49:10 "The scepter shall not depart from Judah, Nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, Until Shiloh comes, and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples."

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Hebrews 7:14 "For it is evident that our Lord was descended from Judah, a tribe with reference to which Moses spoke nothing concerning priests."

Revelation 5:5 "and one of the elders said to me, ‘Stop weeping; behold, the Lion that is from the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has overcome so as to open the book and its seven seals.’"

Micah 5:2-4 "But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from long ago, from the days of eternity. . . . And He will arise and shepherd His flock in the strength of Yahweh, in the majesty of the name of Yahweh His Elohim. And they will remain, because at that time He will be great to the ends of the earth."

John 5:46-47 "For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote of Me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?"

John 2:22 "When therefore He was raised from the dead, His disciples remembered that He said this; and they believed the Scripture, and the word which Jesus had spoken."

Genesis 49:10 "The scepter shall not depart from Judah, Nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, Until Shiloh comes, and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples."

Luke 3:23, 32 "And when He began His ministry, Jesus Himself was about thirty years of age, being supposedly the son of Joseph, the son of Eli. . . . the son of Jesse, the son of Obed, the son of Boaz, the son of Salmon, the son of Nahshon,"

Genesis 10:21 "And also to Shem, the father of all the children of Eber, and the older brother of Japheth, children were born."

Numbers 24:24 "But ships shall come from the coast of Kittim, and they shall afflict Asshur and shall afflict Eber; so they also shall come to destruction."

Revelation 12:5 "And she gave birth to a son, a male child, who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron; and her child was caught up to God and to His throne."

1 Corinthians 15:45 "So also it is written, "The first man, Adam, was-created a living soul." The last Adam into a life-giving spirit."

Revelation 7:4-8 "And I heard the number of those who were sealed, one hundred and forty-four thousand sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel: from the tribe of Judah, twelve thousand were sealed, from the tribe of Reuben twelve thousand, from the tribe of Gad twelve thousand from the tribe of Asher twelve thousand, from the tribe of Naphtali twelve thousand, from the tribe of Manasseh twelve thousand, from the tribe of Simeon twelve thousand, from the tribe of Levi twelve thousand, from the tribe of Issachar twelve thousand, from the tribe of Zebulun twelve thousand, from the tribe of Benjamin, twelve thousand were sealed."

Romans 4:16-17 "For this reason it is by faith, that it might be in accordance with grace, in order that the promise may be certain to all the descendants, not only to those who are of the Law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all, (as it is written, "A father of many nations have I made you") in the sight of Him whom he believed, even God, who brings-to-life the dead and calls into being that which does not exist."

Romans 5:19 "For as through the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the One the many will be made righteous."

2 Samuel 7:16 "And your house and your kingdom shall endure before Me forever; your throne shall be established forever."

Romans 1:3-4  "Concerning His Son, who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh, who was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead, according to the Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord."

Next:  The Importance of the Genealogy of Genesis