Four Ways the Book of Ruth Is Extremely Important (continued):

(3) GENEALOGICAL RECORD

One of the main purposes of the Old Testament is to establish an accurate, historical genealogy of Messiah — Jesus of Nazareth. In that regard, Ruth is the most important link for the New Testament.

All the way back in the book of Genesis, it was already determined that Messiah would come form the Tribe of Judah (see Genesis 49:8-12). In the book of Ruth, King David was connected to the Tribe of Judah.

As we learned from our Matthew study Presenting the Genealogy of Jesus of Nazareth: King!, it would have been impossible for Jesus of Nazareth to be both the biological son of Joseph and to be the Chosen One of God to sit on the throne of David. God had put a curse on a king-descendant of David, Jeconiah, when He said:

God had clearly spoken. However, the Jews had a difficult time understanding:

But Jesus of Nazareth was not the biological son of King David through Joseph's lineage. Without the book of Ruth, we would not have that understanding.

Messiah Jesus was:

• The Legal Son of Joseph.
• The Biological Son of Mary.
• A Descendant of King David without the curse of the line of Jeconiah on Him.

Let us consider the four women who were listed in the genealogy of Messiah Jesus (see Matthew 1:1-17):

1. Tamar
2. Rahab
3. Ruth
4. The wife of Uriah — Bathsheba

These four women represent an outline of redemption. (Please refer to our Table: Four Aspects of Redemption.)

Tamar was not a prostitute; however, she was guilty of fornication with her father-in-law. Do you know why she entered the genealogy of Messiah Jesus? She was a sinner; a Redeemer (Savior) is for sinners.

Paul said:

And Tamar was a sinner.

Qualification For Redemption: Since Tamar was a sinner, she met the first requirement of redemption.

Obviously, not every sinner is redeemed. There has to be a basis of salvation, and that is what Rahab represents.

Rahab was a prostitute, but she had faith; she believed in the God of Israel. Rahab believed that God had given Israel the Land, which is more than most Jews of the time believed. She entered into the messianic genealogy because she was a sinner who had faith.

God put Rahab in the messianic lineage because He does not rank sins like man does. We tend to think some sins are better/worse than others are. What amazes me is that whenever God talks about sin, He just gives a blanket picture of it; all sins are just about the same to God.

Basis Of Redemption: Rahab was a sinner who had Faith.

Most people who come into the Kingdom are not prostitutes, but God does not make that kind of distinction between moral unbelievers and immoral unbelievers. In fact, the moral people are the ones who have the most difficult time entering the Kingdom; that is Ruth.

Ruth was not a flagrant sinner. Everything we know about her points to her being a morally, good woman. In fact, if we had known Ruth personally, we would have been surprised that she was not redeemed because she was such a good person.

This Is A Great Picture: Morally, good people do not enter into His Kingdom because the Law excludes them. It did not matter how good Ruth's behavior was. According to the Law, Ruth was excluded because of who she was; specifically, a Moabitess could not come into the Israelites' congregation (see Deuteronomy 23:2-6). Even morally, good people enter into His Kingdom by Grace.

Way Of Redemption: Faith does not save apart from Grace, and Ruth is the picture of someone who received Grace. She came into the messianic genealogy because of Grace.

The messianic genealogy of Matthew 1 lists these four women, however it does not give Bathsheba's name. Instead, a description identifying her reads:

Bathsheba was the only person whose name in the messianic genealogy is given as a paraphrase; David's name is mentioned, but her name was not. Do you know why? Because Holy Spirit did not put the sin [of adultery] on her — it was King David's sin. Holy Spirit was protecting Bathsheba.

Picture: Redemption after the fact.

God does not redeem us, forgive us, and then tell us I will see you in heaven. I am taking away these old Laws, but here is a fresh batch to keep. That is what we think. It is not that way.

Blessing Of Redemption: God redeems, forgives, and washes sinners (like He did with Bathsheba and King David). Then amazingly, God turns our sins for our good and His glory. [Out of the sinful act of adultery, Solomon was produced. Solomon brought Israel to prosperity and he extended the Kingdom almost to the boundaries God established.]

These four women listed in the royal lineage (Tamar, Rahab, Ruth and Bathsheba) were brought into God's family by a marriage-biology, an intrusion into that biological line. Somewhat similar is what Messiah Jesus did.

Picture: Messiah Jesus is a kinsman (relative) of the redeemed according to the flesh. However, the redeemed are not related to Him, because He did not have any offspring.

Long-term tradition and history records that Jesus of Nazareth's siblings, including James and Jude, had no children. That had to be the situation. Mankind could not have somebody around today who was a descendant of, or related to, Jesus of Nazareth: Messiah.

Could we?

That is what the four women were — outsiders brought in by biology.

To: Matthew 1:1-17, PRESENTING THE GENEALOGY OF JESUS OF NAZARETH: KING !

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