Matthew 1:12-17 God Names The Messiah

After the exile to Babylon: Jeconiah was the father of Shealtiel, Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel, Zerubbabel the father of Abihud, Abihud the father of Eliakim, Eliakim the father of Azor, Azor the father of Zadok, Zadok the father of Akim, Akim the father of Elihud, Elihud the father of Eleazar, Eleazar the father of Matthan, Matthan the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, and Mary was the mother of Jesus who is called the Messiah.

Thus there were fourteen generations in all from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the exile to Babylon, and fourteen from the exile to the Messiah.

I would like to start off with the last verse, first. If you are into numerology, at all, the first thing that jumps out at you, is the fact that there are three sets of 14 generations in the genealogy of Y'shua, Jesus. The number 14, if studied, has a commonality with deliverance or salvation and is used twenty-two times in the Bible. 

For example, the fourteenth day of the first month, Nisan, is the Passover, when God delivered the firstborn of Israel from death. Some 430 years earlier, on the night of the 14th day of the Nisan, God made two covenant salvational or deliverance promises to Abraham, one of a physical seed, Isaac, and his descendants, and one of the spiritual seed, Y'shua, Jesus, and the sons of God who would come through Him. 

Jeconiah = whom Yahweh establishes or Yahweh will establish
Shealtiel = have asked God or requested of God
Zerubbabel = a result out of Babel, or a number of voices crying out.
Abihud = my father is impressive, dignity, or beauty. royal power
Eliakim = God will raise up
Azor = helper or right hand man
Zadok = he is just
Akim = whom the Lord has established
Elihud = God's Oath, or promise, or covenant
Eleazar = counselor of God 
Matthan = gift of God
Jacob = heel-catcher or supplanter. Supplanter means to take the rightful place of another.
Joseph = Yahweh will manifest
Jesus = Yahweh is salvation, salvation through Yahweh, Yahweh Saves.

Let's put them together, in a sentence. 

Whom Yahweh establishes, Yahweh will establish, asked or requested of God, by a number of voices crying out.

This part proclaims the sovereignty of Yahweh. He will do what has said he would do. This is also what many voices or prayers have requested.

My Father is impressive, full of dignity, beauty and power. He(God) will raise up his right hand man, for he is just, whom the Lord has established, by God's convenant. 

Here is the Word of God praising Yahweh for performing what he has established through his Word. God will raise up a man, who is just, who God has promised by his oath or covenant.

Counselor of God, Gift of God, The One Who Will Take The Place of Another. Yahweh will manifest Yeshua, Jesus, which is salvation through Yahweh. 

This one is self-explanatory. Yahweh will manifest or bring forth salvation through Yahweh, by the name of Y'shua, which means Yahweh Saves. This man will be called Counselor of God, Gift of God, The One Who Will Take The Place of Another.

In retrospect, in the first third of the genealogy, God proclaims that he has beaten Satan, by initiating a salvation path through the seed of a Woman. This seed will be a man with the power or strength of Yahweh, himself, that will take on the covering of all our sins.

The second set of 14 names shows that the reason for a renewed covenant.

Here, in the last set of names, Yahweh, names the Messiah and shows us the Messianic line, that leads straight to Y'shua, Jesus. Once again, utterly amazing.

Matthew 1:7-11 Message of Salvation

And Solomon begat Roboam; and Roboam begat Abia; and Abia begat Asa;
And Asa begat Josaphat; and Josaphat begat Joram; and Joram begat Ozias;
And Ozias begat Joatham; and Joatham begat Achaz; and Achaz begat Ezekias;
And Ezekias begat Manasses; and Manasses begat Amon; and Amon begat Josias;
And Josias begat Jechonias and his brethren, about the time they were carried away to Babylon:

The following are the meanings of each individuals name, listed in Matthew 1:7-11.

Solomon = Peaceful or Peace to you
Roboam  = enlarger or abundance of  people or a people has enlarged
Abia = my father is Yah (Yahweh)
Asa = physician, or cure, healer: injurious
Josaphat = whom Yahweh judges or Yahweh has judged
Joram = whom Yahweh has exalted or Yahweh is exalted
Ozias = strength of Yahweh or my strength is Yahweh
Joatham = Yahweh is upright or Yahweh is perfect
Achaz = possessor or he has grasped
Ezekias = the might of Yahweh or Yahweh is my strength
Manasses = forgetting or causing to forget
Amon =  builder or skilled workman or master workman
Josias = whom Yahweh heals
Jechonias = whom Yahweh establishes or Yahweh will establish

Putting them together, they read.

Peace to the people, who has been made abundant. My father, who is Yahweh, the healer, the judge, the one to be exalted. He is strong, perfect and upright. You, who have possessed the might of Yahweh, have forgotten the master builder. Yahweh will heal what Yahweh has established. 

Amazingly, out of the genealogy, of the Messiah, is a reiteration of God's original promise to the people of Israel. Even though Israel has forgotten who God really is, he won't forget them and promises that he, alone, has the power to heal, what he has established. At the time of these names, God punished Israel and allowed Babylon to enslave the Israelites, for 70 years. Afterwards, he built them back up, as a great nation.

The same thing is happening, again, at the time of the Messiah's appearance, on the earth. The Jews, have forgotten God's mercy and attempted to show that they are God's people, by being stringently self righteous. Once again, the father will show that it's not all about Israel, but God, alone. By his mercy, he will build a renewed relationship with his people, first the Jews, then the gentiles.

An interesting fact to point out. It isn't the father saying this. It is the son, the Word of God, who will be become a man, to save God's people again.

Matthew 1:2-6 Y'shua's Claim To The Messianic Line, Part Two

As I wrote, in the part one, genealogies may appear boring to some, a deeper look reveals a supernatural message from God. First, let's read the text in it's natural form.

"Abraham begat Isaac; and Isaac begat Jacob; and Jacob begat Judah and his brethren;

And Judas begat Phares and Zara of Thamar; and Phares begat Esrom; and Esrom begat Aram;

And Aram begat Aminadab; and Aminadab begat Naasson; and Naasson begat Salmon;

And Salmon begat Booz of Rachab; and Booz begat Obed of Ruth; and Obed begat Jesse;

And Jesse begat David the king; "

Now let's take the names and look at their meaning. As we do this, let the Spirit lead you and allow him to speak. 

Name: Meaning

Abraham: father of a multitude
Isaac: he laughs
Jacob: heel catcher
Judah: the praised one
Pharez: a breach, division or rupture, broken through
Esrom: enclosed, Dart of joy, division of a song
Eram: high, paradise, landmark marking the correct direction
Aminadab: one of the princes people, the kinsman
Naasson: enchanter, one who seeks or reveals knowledge of the future or the unknown by supernatural means.
Salmon: raiment or garment, that holds wholeness or peacefulness.
Boaz: in him is strength
Obed: serving or servant, bondage
Jesse: wealthy man, husband
David: beloved

Put together, could this message mean.

"The Father, of many, laughs at the heel catcher. The Praised One has broken through.

Is God, our Father, laughing at Satan, as referenced in Genesis 3:15, because the Promised Messiah has arrived?

"Enclosed, but bursting out in joy, to mark the correct direction to Paradise."

Is this a reference to the Messianic earthly arrival through the womb of a woman, pointing the way to salvation? 

"A Royal Kinsmen, the one who reveals knowledge of the future and the unknown, by supernatural means."

Is this referencing to the Messiah as a Son of Man, with supernatural abilities?

"A clothing that holds wholeness or peace."

Is this a reference to the Messiah being a covering of our sins, resulting in our eternal peace and completeness with God?

"In Him is Strength, an obedient servant, a Man/Husband of the Beloved."

Finally, does this mean that the Messiah is strong enough to be completely obedient until death, resulting in him being the beloved Bridegroom of all believers?

I think you know my answer to all these questions, what do you say?

Every time I see one of these messages, I am awestruck at how amazing God is. Why am I surprised? Shouldn't we expect this from a supernatural God?

Shalom!

Matthew 1:1 Y'shua's Claim To The Messianic Line, Part One

A record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ the son of David, the son of Abraham:

I remember when I was younger, that I would quickly scan over any genealogy, that I found in the Bible. I read through it quickly and did not pay attention to the specifics. I just wanted to get through them and get to the good stuff.

However, I have found, that delving deeply into a simple introductory verse, such as this one here, reveals so much that is important to the average believer in the Messiah. With that said, let's look at what this first verse is saying to us.

The first verse is telling us that the following verses are a record of the laying out of Y'shua's claim to be human, which is very important for you and me. Without Y'shua humanity intact, it makes his claim to be our Passover lamb invalid.

Ever since Adam and Eve fell from grace, God has made it quite clear that innocent blood was required for the remission or forgiveness of our sins. When Adam and Eve first disobeyed God, their eyes were opened and saw their sinfulness or disobedience, symbolized in their nakedness. They knew immediately that they had to cover themselves and did so with a Figleaf.

However, God came and removed their figleafs and replaced them with animal skins, which signified, to them, that a sacrifice of innocent blood was required for their covering. The sticking point here is that this temporary covering had to be renewed periodically, because what was really required was the innocent blood of the one who sinned in the first place. That would be Adam or one of his descendants.  The problem was none of Adam descendants were or have ever been innocent. All were stained with the blemish of disobedience or sins.

The whole Law and sacrificial system was put in place to show us that no matter what we do, we cannot pay for our sins with a sacrifice that would be wholly acceptable to God. But, God had a plan to supply a sacrificial lamb that would be innocent and free from the blemish of disobedience and be part of the lineage of Adam.

God supplied his only son, who was human, with the Spirit of God, to be that perfect sacrifice. He tethered his son to a real human family line to qualify as the Passover lamb, which would be wholly acceptable to God as a sin offering. That is what chapter one lays out.

Since Matthew was laid down as a message to the Jews, the genealogy starts at Abraham, the father of the Jews, continuing through David, ending with Y'shua's adoptive father, Joseph. As a sidenote, Y'shua's real human name is Y'shua Ben Joseph. Please compare this genealogy with the one in the Book of Luke. He shows the lineage from Adam to Y'shua. Combined, they revealed that Y'shua is and always will be not only the Son of God, but the Son of Man.

As far as the Spirit side of Y'shua, we'll get to that, later in the book.

Shalom and have a Great Day!

Matthew-Introduction

As we enter the Book of Matthew, I think it important to go over a few things to give us a flavor of the mind set and setting of this book.

Matthew

The Book of Matthew was written by one of the Apostles of Yeshua, Matthew. Matthew is his anglicized name, his Hebrew name was Mattityahu, which means, "gift of Jehovah". Matthew was  a tax collector, one of the most hated professions in the Roman Empire, when Y'shua called him into the ministry in Matthew 9:9.

As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector's booth. “Follow me,” he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him.

This is one of five times, Matthew is mentioned in the Bible.

He is also called Levi, son of Alpheus. Mark 2:14

The Gospels Are Synoptic and Specifically Addressed. 

The Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke are synoptic which means they describe events from a similar point of view, as contrasted with that of John. Matthew, presents Yeshua/Jesus, to the Jew, as the Lion of Judah, the Promised Messiah. Mark presents him to the Roman as the Servant. Luke presents him to the Greek, as the Son of Man. All three of these gospels include many of the same stories, often in a similar sequence and in similar wording. The Book of John, whose content is comparatively distinct, presents Yeshua/Jesus as the Son of God to the Faithful Believers, the Remnant of God in every generation.

Timeline/Archeology

At the beginning of Matthew, we have the Genealogy of Y'shua, Jesus. It starts with Abraham, who lived in the 20th century BC and gives us the names of the Messianic line of Judah from Abraham to David, 1040–970 BC, to Y'shua who was born some time between 7 and 4 BC. The Book of Matthew then jumps from Y'shua's birth to the begining of his ministry, around 27 AD to his Sacificial Death and Resurection, three years later.

It centers on the area from the Galilee to Egypt during the time of Y'shua, as seen in the following map.

The Style of Matthew

-Presented legalistically as fulfilled prophecy
-Centers of what was said by Yeshua.
-Ends at the Resurrection of Yeshua
-Since it presents Yeshua as the Lion of Judah, it is symbolized as the Lion.

Interesting Note

Mark is symbolized as the Ox because it presents Yeshua as the servant.
Luke is symbolized as the Man because it presents Yeshua as the Son of Man.
John is symbolized as the Eagle because it presents Yeshua as the Son of God.

Surrounding the Tabernacle in the desert, the Israelites rallied behind four main tribes, Judah, Ephraim, Reuben and Dan. Their tribal banners were the Lion, Ox, Man and Eagle respectively. The Lion, Ox, Man and Eagle are also the faces of Cherubim at the Throne of God. It appears that the tabernacle is a model of the Throne Room of God.