Note 11
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WHY DON'T WE TRACE THE GENEALOGY THROUGH JUDAH?

Or

The sins we commit in this life have long lasting consequences

Introduction:

Normally, three things are given to the firstborn. (1) the genealogy is traced through the first born son; (2) the birthright is given to the firstborn son; (3) the firstborn son also gets a double portion of the fathers wealth for an inheritance.

I Chron. 5:1,2 reveals "Now the sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel, (for he was the firstborn; but, forasmuch as he defiled his father's bed, his birthright was given unto the sons of Joseph the son of Israel: and the genealogy is not to be reckoned after the birthright. 2 For Judah prevailed above his brethren, and of him came the chief ruler; but the birthright was Joseph's:)." Reuben held the birthright as he was the eldest son of Leah, the first wife of Jacob. He lost his birthright by defiling his father's bed. The birthright then passed to Joseph, the eldest son of Jacob's second wife, Rachel. Judah became the chief ruler, or more clearly stated, the one whom the Christ child would come through.

The chief ruler refers to Jesus Christ, who will trace His genealogy through Mary back to Judah, not Reuben.

Reuben lost the right to be in the genealogy by lying with Bilhah, Gen. 35:22.

Judah was next in line to be in the genealogy of Christ, because he prevailed above his brethren, but his adultery with Tamar caused the next 10 generations to lose the right to come into the congregation of the Lord, therefore the genealogy was traced another way until the 10 generations were completed. David is the 11^th generation from Judah. This is why Saul, of the tribe of Benjamin, was selected as the first king of the nation of Israel.

The word "firstborn" denotes the special privileges and advantages belonging to the first-born son among the Jews.

He became the priest of the family. Thus Reuben was the first-born of the patriarchs, and so the priesthood of the tribes belonged to him. That honour was, however, transferred by God from Reuben to Levi. Num. 3:12,13 8:18

The first-born son had allotted to him also a double portion of the paternal inheritance, Deut. 21:15-17. Reuben was, because of his undutiful (sacrilegious - WWR) conduct, deprived of his birthright, Gen. 49:4 1Ch 5:1. Esau transferred his birth-right to Jacob, Gen. 25:33.

The first-born inherited the judicial authority of his father, whatever it might be II Chron. 21:3 - Jehoram receives the kingdom from his father because he, Jehoram, was the firstborn. By divine appointment, however, David excluded Adonijah in favour of Solomon.

The Jews attached a sacred importance to the rank of "first-born" and "first-begotten" as applied to the Messiah, Rom. 8:29; Col. 1:18; Heb. 1:4-6. As first-born he has an inheritance superior to his brethren, and is the alone true priest.

Deut. 21:15-17 states, "If a man have two wives, one beloved, and another hated, and they have born him children, both the beloved and the hated; and if the firstborn son be hers that was hated: 16 Then it shall be, when he maketh his sons to inherit that which he hath, that he may not make the son of the beloved firstborn before the son of the hated, which is indeed the firstborn: 17 But he shall acknowledge the son of the hated for the firstborn, by giving him a double portion of all that he hath: for he is the beginning of his strength; the right of the firstborn is his."

This passage refers to Jacob who had more than one wife, yet loved one wife more than the other. Jacob loved Rachel more than Leah, therefore God would not allow him to prefer Rachel's children over Leah's.

Gen. 29:30 - Jacob loved Rachel more than Leah and served Laban another seven years for her.

Gen. 29:31 - When God saw that Jacob loved Leah and not Rachel, he opened the womb of Leah, but closed Rachel’s womb.

Gen. 29:32 - Leah names Reuben, which means "see ye a son," because she knew Jacob didn’t love her.

Gen. 29:33 - Simeon was born because God heard that Leah was hated.

Gen. 29:34 - When Levi was born, Leah believed her husband would be joined unto her.

Gen. 29:35 - Leah has either earned Jacob’s love, or given up on him, and praises the Lord when Judah is born.

Jacob's firstborn, Reuben, was to be the one the genealogy of Christ would be traced through, but because of his rebellion against God's morals, this would not be done.

Gen. 35:22 - Reuben lay with Bilhah, and lost the birthright and genealogy.

It would seem the next in line (Simeon) would take both the birthright and the genealogy, but Deut. 21:15-17 comes into play and the birthright goes to Joseph, the firstborn of the wife that was loved.

Some think the great wickedness of Levi and Simeon in killing the household of Shechem and Hamor, Genesis 34, resulted in both of these families losing the right to be included in the genealogy of Christ. I do not find a scripture to prove this idea.

God would then use Judah, but because of his immorality, God would keep 10 generations of Judah out of the genealogy. To keep Israel alive through the drought that came to Canaan and their subsequent trip to Egypt, God used Joseph, the firstborn of Rachel, the wife Jacob loved most. God would keep his own word, and will not allow the genealogy to be traced through Joseph, but he will give Joseph a "double portion" by allowing Manasseh to be counted a tribe of Israel in eternity and Joseph would be counted in place of Ephraim. Rev. 7:6 - 12,000 sealed from the tribe of Manasseh and Rev. 7:8 - 12,000 sealed from the tribe of Joseph.

The birthright goes to the firstborn and refers to that which will receive the double portion of the inheritance. (This double portion is not only for this present world, but also for all eternity !! )

Deut 21:17 - Reuben was supposed to get a double portion, but because he committed adultery with Bilhah, he lost the birthright, and this double portion went to Joseph.

The double portion given to Joseph.

Immediate and material double portion.

Numbers 1:5-16 - This is a list of the tribes of Israel. Note that Joseph and Levi are not included in this list.

The two sons of Joseph (Ephraim and Manasseh) are listed because this is the immediate and material double portion received by Joseph.

Eternal and Spiritual double portion.

Ephraim and Dan loses this position because they allowed an idol to be erected in their tribe. I Kings 12:26-30.

Deut. 29:18-20 - The Lord said he would blot the name of the man, the woman, the family, or the tribe who goes and serves any other god except Him.

During the Great Tribulation, God continues to give the double portion to Joseph through sealing 12,000 of the tribe of Joseph (which beforehand wasn’t a tribe) and the tribe of Manasseh.

This also shows the grace of God in preserving the faithful of the tribe of Ephraim in the tribe of Joseph.

The tribe of Levi was including in the sealing of the 12,000 because they were continually faithful to God, and God would lose none that belonged to Him.

III. I Chronicles 5:1,2 indicates that the genealogy should be traced through Judah, not Joseph, but according to Deuteronomy 23:2, a bastard shall not enter into the congregation of the Lord until the tenth generation.

A. The following story relates why ten generations of Judah are left out of the genealogy.

1. Genesis 38:1,2 records that Judah married a Canaanite woman whose name isn’t mentioned in the Bible. Judah got acquainted with a certain Adullamite whose name was Hirah. It is while visiting with Hirah that Judah saw the daughter of Shuah, who was a Canaanite. For proof that Shuah is the father and not the daughter, see Genesis 38:12, And in process of time the daughter of Shuah Judah's wife died…

2. Genesis 38:3-5 records that they had three children: (1) Er, (2) Onan and (3) Shelah.

3. Genesis 38:6-10 records that Judah chose Tamar for Er's wife.

4. Er was wicked in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord killed him.

5. Judah instructed his second son, Onan, to perform the duty of the kinsman redeemer and raise up children by Tamar for Er.

6. Er married Tamar, but refused to consummate the marriage, and God killed him.

7. Genesis 38:11 records that Shelah was too young for marriage, and Judah asked Tamar to wait until Shelah was grown before he performed the duty of the kinsman redeemer.

8. Genesis 38:12 records that Judah's wife died, and after an appropriate time of mourning, Judah returned to work.

9. Genesis 38:13-30 records that Judah went in unto Tamar, thinking she was a harlot. Tamar conceived twins by her father in law whom she named Pharez and Zarah.

B. Pharez and Zarah were bastards, and were not permitted to enter into the congregation of the Lord, Deuteronomy 23:2,3.

C. Their descendants were included in the genealogy of Christ, but the dates of their birth, death, and length of life is not given.

D. King David is the tenth generation from Judah.

1. He was the first king of Israel from the tribe of Judah.

2. He is the first king of Israel that is a type of Jesus Christ, the King of the Jews.

The generations can be counted from King David until the end of the kings.

The generations from Judah to David are as follows and are found in Matthew 1:3-6.

Judah committed adultery with Tammar who bare twins - Phares and Zara.

Phares (1^st generation)

Esrom (2^nd generation)

Aram (3^rd generation)

Aminadab (4^th generation)

Naasson (5^th generation)

Salmon (6^th generation)

Booz (7^th generation)

Obed (8^th generation)

Jesse (9^th generation)

David (10^th generation)