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God became a member of the human
race not only to die for man's sin, but also to rule from a
literal throne as King of the earth (Psa. 2). He came into the
world through the Jewish family of Judah and the kingly line of
David.
"When your days are fulfilled
and you rest with your fathers, I will set up your seed
after you, who will come from your body, and I will
establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for My name,
and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I
will be his Father, and he shall be My son. If he commits
iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men and with
the blows of the sons of men. But My mercy shall not depart
from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I removed from before
you. And your house and your kingdom shall be established
forever before you. Your throne shall be established
forever. According to all these words and according to all
this vision, so Nathan spoke to David." (2 Sam. 7:12-17)
David would build a house for the
Lord but not of the customary wood and stone. The house he would
build would to be his physical line, or his future generations.
David’s family line would ultimately produce a son that would
establish his kingdom forever.
King David had a desire to build
a temple to Jehovah God. Up to that time, the ark of the
covenant - the symbol of the dwelling place of God - had been
placed in a tent. The thought of allowing the ark of the
covenant to remain in a simple tent while he himself lived in a
luxurious house of cedar did not set well with David.
Solomon, David's son, would be
the one to build God's physical temple. However, through David's
genetic line, the throne of Israel was established forever.
Though Solomon was disobedient and endured chastisement from
God, this future promised kingdom was never taken away.
"My covenant I will not break
nor alter the word that has gone out of My lips. Once I have
sworn by my holiness; I will not lie to David: His seed
shall endure forever, and his throne as the sun before me;
It shall be established forever like the moon, even like the
faithful witness in the sky." (Psa. 89:34-37)
David's Line Corrupted
The credentials for the throne of
Israel involved two things: the legal right, which was the right
bloodline, and the royal right. The royal right declared that
the king must be the firstborn of the right family tree. In
order to be King, Jesus Christ must have these credentials.
Joseph was a sinner! For that
reason, he was disqualified from being the biological father of
Jesus Christ. If Jesus had been the natural son of Joseph, He
would have been a sinner, and could not have been the redeemer
of the human race. The miracle of the virgin birth prevented
this from happening.
But in order to prove beyond a
doubt that Jesus Christ was the sinless Son of God and that He
alone has the credentials to be our redeemer and the king, God
created a humanly impossible dilemma.
Remember, the king of Israel must
be the firstborn of the bloodline of King David. However, God
cursed one of the kings in David’s line, because of extreme
wickedness.
"As I live, says the Lord,
though Coniah, the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, were the
signet upon my right hand (that is, he was to be my king),
yet I would pluck you off; and I will give you into the hand
of those who seek your life, and into the hand of those
whose face you fear-the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of
Babylon and the hand of the Chaldeans. So I will cast you
out, and your mother who bore you, into another country,
where you were not born; and there you shall die. But to the
land to which they desire to return, there shall they not
return. Is this man Coniah a despised, a broken idol? Is he
a vessel in which is no pleasure? Why are they cast out, he
and his descendants, and are cast into a land which they do
not know? O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the Lord!
Thus says the Lord, Write this man down as childless, a
man that shall not prosper in his days; for none of his
descendants shall prosper, sitting upon the throne of David,
and ruling any more in Judah." (Jer. 22:24-30)
No child in Coniah’s line could
rule upon the throne of David. This same truth is stated again
in 2 Kings 24:5-15, only here Coniah is named Jehoiachin. Second
Kings states that after Jehoiakim's death, Jehoiachin (also
called Coniah or Jeconiah), his son, reigned. And Jehoiachin did
evil in the sight of the Lord (vs. 6-9). Just what evil the king
committed we are not told. But true to God's word, Babylon
conquered Judah and took the king and his family and the
treasures of Solomon into captivity. The prophecy concludes
with,
"And he carried away
Jehoiachin to Babylon, and the king's mother, and the king's
wives, and his officers, and the mighty of the land, those
carried he into captivity from Jerusalem to Babylon." (2
Kings 24:15)
Did Jehoiachin have sons? Yes, he
did, but none ever reigned in Judah as king. Because of
this curse, Israel has not had a monarchy from the time of the
Babylonian captivity until now.
In Matthew chapter one we are
given the genealogy of Jesus Christ. His line rightly goes
through David's father, and then through David himself, and then
through Solomon. Notice carefully the genealogical line after
Solomon.
"Josiah begot Jeconiah and
his brothers, about the time they were carried away to
Babylon." (Matt. 1:11)
Here is the mention of Jeconiah.
The line involving Jeconiah ended with a carpenter named Joseph
the husband of a young virgin named Mary.
"And Jacob begot Joseph the
husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus who is called
Christ." (Matt. 1:16)
Joseph was in Jeconiah's line.
So if Jesus Christ were to be the legitimate king in Israel, it
would have been impossible for him to be the natural son of
Joseph. Joseph was a sinner and under the curse imposed upon his
genetic line through Jeconiah. This makes it impossible for
Joseph to have been the physical father of Jesus Christ.
Did this frustrate the sovereign
will of an infinite God? Not at all! God used this very problem
to illustrate His genius and the credibility of His word.
If you were to ask any thinking
Jew today, "Who will be your king?" he might respond, "We do not
have a king."
You might nod your head in
agreement and say, "If you had a king, who would it be?"
"Well, let's investigate the
genealogical records. In Matthew 1:16 the line ends with a man
named Joseph, a carpenter. He was the last son of David, through
Solomon. So he, this carpenter, had the legal royal right to
rule in Israel."
"So Joseph came through David
then through Solomon?"
"Yes, that is correct."
"Wait a second, isn't Jeconiah in
that line?"
"Yes he is, why?"
"Well what about the curse of
Jeremiah 22:30? Wouldn't that disqualify him from being king?"
"Yes, you're right."
"So Joseph and all his children
would be disqualified?"
"That's correct."
"Well, did David have any other
sons?"
"Yes, he did. He had other sons.
One was Nathan."
"Well, let's trace the kingly
line through Nathan in Luke 3:23-38."
If we begin with verse 38 and
read backwards and focus our attention on verse 31, we see that
this line, likewise, came through David (just like Matthew 1:6).
But here we find a strange twist. Solomon is missing from this
line. By coming through Nathan, Solomon is bypassed and thus
so is Jeconiah. This line ends mysteriously in a man named
Heli (verse 23). Heli had no sons. However, he had three
daughters. One of his daughters was named Mary. Isn't that an
interesting coincidence! Mary then just happened to fall in love
with the carpenter named Joseph and they married. So Heli's
son-in-law became Joseph.
Now ask this thinking Jew this
question. "Did Mary have a Son? . . . .Well did she?"
"Well, yes she did."
"Who was He?"
"Well, he had a questionable
birth."
"Oh, I see. . . but what was his
name?"
"Jesus!"
"What was that again?"
"Jesus!"
"So then legally this One called
Jesus has the right to the throne of Israel?"
"Yes!"
"Well, what about his royal right
as the first born? Did Joseph legally adopt Jesus Christ as his
firstborn son?"
"Yes, he did."
"Is that an acceptable practice
in Israel."
"Yes."
"Then according to the historical
record Jesus Christ is the only legal, royal heir to the throne
of Israel?"
"Yes, that is true."
What a magnificent plan! By being
conceived by the Holy Spirit (Luke 1:30-35), Jesus Christ
bypassed the Adamic sin nature passed down genetically from Adam
(Rom. 5:12; 1 Cor. 15:22).
Mary, because of her bloodline,
gave Him his legal right to the throne. Thus he was in the
bloodline of David and also free from the curse of Coniah.
Joseph gave Him his royal right to the throne of Israel because
Jesus was adopted as his firstborn Son.
Could man in his human genius
ever have conceived such an incredible plot and then
communicated it in a book? I think not! No one will be king of
the earth until the One who has the legal, royal right to the
throne comes.
"For unto us a Child is born,
Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His
shoulder and His name shall be called Wonderful Counselor,
Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the
increase of his government and peace there shall be no end,
upon the throne of David and over his kingdom, to order it,
and establish it with judgment and justice from that time
forward, even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will
perform this." (Isa. 9:6-7)
"Blessed are all those who
put their trust in Him." (Psa. 2:12)
New American
Standard Bible
Dr. Art
Crawford
Bible
Knowledge Commentary; Old Testament
The Works of
Josephus
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