Verse by Verse

Hi. I'm Clyde Kilo, and this is Verse by Verse, a podcast exploring the insights and lessons of the inspired word of God. I'm recording this podcast in late 2023 when antisemitism is a hot topic due to the war between Israel and Hamas. Of course, antisemitism, being hostile or prejudiced against the Jewish people, is nothing new. It has gone on for 1000 of years.

We humans have perfected the art of being prejudiced, not only against Jews, but against virtually every ethnic, racial, national, or religious group that exist. It is one of the most common sins, one that keeps hatred and division thriving. However, the verse we are looking at today, Matthew 1 17, gives us something significant to think about regarding antisemitism and, by extension, all prejudice and hatred. It's a rather benign sounding verse. All it says is, so all the generations from Abraham to David are 14 generations, from David until the captivity in Babylon are 14 generations, and from the captivity in Babylon until Christ are 14 generations.

There are 2 genealogies for Jesus in the New Testament. Matthew's here traces his lineage as far back as Abraham. But Luke's goes all the way to Adam, who is listed as the son of god. So what is the significance? Both make it clear that Jesus' ancestry was through Judah.

And who was Judah? Well, he was one of the 12 sons of Jacob, whose name was later changed to Israel. After eventually becoming a nation, the descendants of these 12 sons formed what is called the 12 tribes of Israel. The Jews, so called because they descended from Judah, were only one of those tribes. Now today, 1000 of years later, it's sometimes confusing, because when the Jews were allowed to form a nation in 1948, they named it Israel instead of Judah.

Therefore, when many people read about Israel in the Bible, particularly in yet unfulfilled prophecies, they assume Israel and Jew mean the same thing. They don't, and that's vital to understand. Download our booklet, The United States, Britain, and the Commonwealth in Prophecy, which explains this critically important story. But back to Jesus' genealogy. We find in verse 2 that David and Jesus descended from Judah, meaning they were Jews.

So were Jesus' apostles, Peter, James, John, and the rest. So were the disciples, the original members of the church Jesus built, described in acts 2 and subsequent chapters. They were all Jews. Now Jesus being born a Jew was actually one of the oldest old testament messianic prophecies. In Jacob's last words to his sons, recorded in Genesis 49, he foretold that regarding Judah, the scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet until Shiloh comes.

This is commonly understood to be a prophecy of Jesus. God later confirmed this promise with David. And then in Micah 5 verse 2, we find a a prophecy of even where Jesus would be born, in Judah. It says, but you, oh Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be counted among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be the ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from old, from ancient days. So Matthew 1 17 is important because it confirms fulfilled prophecies.

But let's circle back to something else so we can learn from this and the problem today of anti Semitism. That is, it might help some people if they could remember that it was Jesus, a Jew, who said that we should love our neighbors as ourselves. It was Jesus, a Jew, who said, love your enemies. Bless those who curse you. Do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your father in heaven.

It was Jesus, a Jew, who gave his life for every human who has ever lived. Regardless of their color, ethnicity, or anything else, even antisemitism. Now was it because he was Jewish that he said those things? No. He would have been the same no matter his nationality.

Being a Jew didn't make him special. Being the son of God did. When we learn to be like Jesus, then maybe we can learn to stop being anti anyone. We need to take a cue from him, and focus on being anti sin, anti hatred, anti prejudice. And then maybe we too can be the children of our father in heaven.

Verse by Verse is a companion podcast to the daily bible verse blog, which you can find on the Life, Hope and Truth Learning Center. Check out the show notes for more.