As December starts tomorrow, Christmas can either be viewed spiritually or worldly. I think the Puritans were wrong to have that ban on Christmas. Arthur W. Pink, though he disliked Christmas, actually wrote in Practical Christianity that there’s still the freedom to celebrate it. I would like to have some “Christmas spirit” by digging into the genealogy of Jesus Christ. Matthew 1 records the legal qualifications which list Abraham down to Joseph, Jesus’ adoptive father. Luke 3:23-38 records it differently and we read David had a son named Nathan. 1 Chronicles 3:5 records that David had other children with Bathsheba aside from the firstborn who died in infancy and Solomon. The record is also in 2 Samuel 5:14 and 1 Chronicles 14:4-7. We can read that there was a son named Nathan. David named one of his sons after his encourager and accountability partner, the prophet Nathan. Then going backwards, we find another important person named Nahshon from the very lineage of David.
Reading through 1 Chronicles can be a chore. Yet, it’s very important to read them because the genealogy is an important record. It’s not enough to say something–it must be backed by historical facts! That’s why the Bible mentions certain valid secular sources, which God allowed to be destroyed, but pieces of information may be found in a Jewish library. It should be noted that 1 Chronicles 2 records Judah’s lineage before the 3rd chapter records David’s lineage. It also notes that Achan the troublemaker came from the same tribe but not in the lineage of David. It also states that Nahson was the leader (seldom spelled out as prince) of the Tribe of Judah. What can’t be denied though is how the terrible act of incest was still recorded in 2 Chronicles 2:4. Tamar bore Judah both Perez and Zerah. Shelah was still alive as both Er and Onan died for their wicked acts.
Numbers 1:7 and Numbers 2:3 cite that Nahshon was the chief of the Tribe of Judah. There was some illegitimacy problem going on here. If we think about it, the cycle goes that the curse was only broken with David. What we can’t deny is Jacob’s prophecy written in Genesis 49:8-12 was the Messianic prophecy. The birthright was lost thrice. Reuben the firstborn should’ve known better than to sleep with one of his father’s wives (1 Chronicles 5:1 speaks of this). Simeon and Levi become instruments of cruelty. Quite amazingly, Judah got the biggest blessing. Would the incident in Genesis 44 have caused it? Judah had a huge change of heart from the incident. Judah, the same person who advised to sell Joseph the Dreamer to Egypt, interceded for Benjamin, right in front of Joseph. Joseph wanted to see if his brothers really changed and they did.
I was reading what Dr. John F. MacArthur says in his NIV MacArthur Study Bible. I was looking at the late J. Vernon McGee. MacArthur still honors McGee in spite of differences. This very statement might explain how Nahshon went from an illegitimate lineage to slowly leading it out of the curse:
As strong as a young lion and entrenched as an old lion, to Judah’s line belonged national prominence and kingship, including David, Solomon and their dynasty (640 years after this), as well as “the one to whom the scepter belongs,” i.e. Shiloh, the cryptogram for the Messiah, the one also called the Lion of the Tribe of Judah (Rev. 5:5). On the march through the wilderness, Judah went first (Nu. 10:14) and had the largest population in Moses’ census (cf. Nu. 1:27, 26:22). This language (vv. 11, 12) describes prosperity so great that people will tie a donkey to a choice vine, letting it eat because there is such abudance; wine will be as plentiful as water and everyone will be healthy. This is likely a millennial prophecy.
Although Israel had no king yet, think that Judah went first and Nahshon was written as the leader of the Tribe of Judah. It’s as if Nahshon was technically Israel’s king. Interestingly, Matthew 1 records several women. We discover that Nahshon married Rahab in Matthew 1:5. Rahab was that Canaanite prostitute who later joined the Jewish people. The Book of Joshua records a Theophany in Joshua 5 with the pre-incarnate Christ–further obliterating any insane claim that Jesus wasn’t eternal! So many cults today try to downplay Jesus’ deity and even look for fistfights because of it. Joshua 2 records Rahab’s lie (which I believe was still wrong) and her courage. Hebrews 11 and James 2 record how Rahab the Canaanite went from a prostitute to a heroine in the faith. I wonder if God even moved Nahshon to marry Rahab. Rahab could’ve easily married any godly man of lower status given her birth. Yet, God reserved her for Nahson.
We read further about God’s grace getting in. Nahson and Rahab had a son named Boaz. Boaz redeemed the property of Naomi by marrying Ruth, the widow of Mahlon. Ruth accompanied her first mother-in-law and then had Rahab as her second mother-in-law. Just imagine the inclusion of Gentiles into the Davidic line. We have Nahson, Boaz, Obed, Jesse, and then David. David was the 10th in the line so the curse in Deuteronomy ended with him at the 10th generation. I guess Nahshon was purposely made prince over the Tribe of Judah because David would spring out of him. Eventually, Jesus’ earthly lineage, both legal and biological, would also spring out from the same lineage as well.
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