Anchor My Faith

Title: Solomon to Josiah (Matthew 1:6b-11)

John continues on with the genealogy: “And David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah” (Matthew 1:6b ESV). In the spring of a particular year, David did not go out to battle, but remained in Jerusalem and late one afternoon, he went for a walk on the roof of his house and he saw a very beautiful woman bathing at another house. This stimulated a desire for her and he sent messengers and took her, and she came to him, and he lay with her and she became pregnant. David sent word to the battle field for her husband, Uriah the Hittite, to return and spend some time with her, but he refused. Knowing that it would be clear that Uriah was not the father, David in desperation, gave instructions to Joab to have Uriah placed in an area of hardest fighting where he would be killed. Once that had been accomplished, David took Bathsheba to be his wife. The child died, but Bathsheba bore another child, Solomon.

It is not clear what Bathsheba’s intentions were when she bathed in clear view of David, but David was wrong by sending for her and then trying to cover up his sin by killing her husband. This is another example of sin found in this genealogy.

John continues with the genealogy: “and Solomon the father of Rehoboam, and Rehoboam the father of Abijah, and Abijah the father of Asaph, and Asaph the father of Jehoshaphat, and Jehoshaphat the father of Joram, and Joram the father of Uzziah, and Uzziah the father of Jotham, and Jotham the father of Ahaz, and Ahaz the father of Hezekiah, and Hezekiah the father of Manasseh, and Manasseh the father of Amos,[c] and Amos the father of Josiah, and Josiah the father of Jechoniah and his brothers, at the time of the deportation to Babylon” (Matthew 1:7 – 11 ESV). We will not take time and look up each name in the Old Testament, but instead we will mention that their sin led Israel to be defeated and carried off to Babylon. Finally, God had enough of Israel’s disobedience and sent her off to Babylon to live among her captives.

There were two deportations to Babylon of the tribes which composed the kingdom of Judah. The first happened in the eighth year of the reign of Jehoiachin who delivered up Jerusalem to Nebuchadnezzar, and, by treaty, agreed to go with the Chaldeans to Babylon. At which time the princes and the mighty men, and 10,000 captives, with all the craftsmen and smiths, were carried away to Babylon (2 Kings 24:12-16). The second deportation happened in the 11th year of the reign of Zedekiah, when the city was taken by storm, and all the people made prisoners of war and carried off. The seventy years of the captivity were dated from the first deportation. 

Prayer

Father, as I think about the names listed in the genealogy of this lesson, it becomes clear the power sin has over our lives. It is no different today, especially in America where the nation is turning away from God and as she does disunity becomes more prevalent, allowing evil to become more pronounced. The handwriting of judgment on the wall is becoming more clear, indicating that our time is short. It is hard to imagine the anguish that will befall us when your judgment removes our idols of comfort and safety. Those idols must be destroyed and they will be, but the cost will be horrific. Father, have mercy on us.