Five Unlikely Women

The title for my sermon today is Five Unlikely Women. Five Unlikely Women. Over my years of reading through the Bible, I have to admit there's actually been sections of Scripture that I come up to that I've found it difficult to work my way through. You know, I read up to it and I kind of maybe think in my mind, Psi, here we go, and that's the genealogies.

Have you ever been challenged by the genealogies? It's generally a section of Scripture that, for me, it's names that are difficult to pronounce. You know, it kind of spawns the question, why would you name your child that name? And I go, okay, this is Hebrew or, you know, whatever it might be. So if that was my child's name, I don't think I would be able to spell it. Hopefully I could come to pronounce it at some point.

But the genealogies for me in terms of Scripture have been a little bit of challenge over the time. And I would guess I would, on occasion, read up to it, kind of start through and maybe go, okay, I get it. The first guy is related to the last guy and a bunch of people in between and let's move on. But, you know, the genealogies are in the Bible for a purpose. And maybe sometimes we don't always recognize what that is.

One purpose for the genealogies could show the manner in which God works through family lines. You know, you see someone who has a relationship with God, God's made promises of blessing, and you see that passed on from father to son, the grandson, on down the line. That's one purpose for genealogies, that we can trace those things out, see that God works in families. Another reason for genealogies could be there for the sake of the people themselves.

Because just imagine if you were a Jew living in Jerusalem at the time of Jesus Christ, it was very important to you to be able to trace your lineage back to Abraham. And to say, yes, I am one of the chosen people of God through this lineage, people of covenant by Abraham. And in fact, that is something that you can see if you read through the Gospel accounts in terms of what would be held up as almost a sense of pride in a wrong way in people's lives.

But I go back to Abraham. But again, that is traced through genealogy. Another likely reason for the genealogies and why they're recorded in Scripture are to demonstrate God's ability to bring to pass what it is he has promised. Again, God makes a promise, perhaps a promise blessing to an individual, says it'll be fulfilled down through this line and maybe even at a later point. And then you can trace down through the genealogy the passing on of, shall we say, the birthright of that blessing and ultimately the fulfillment of it.

And it's there as well to be a witness when that fulfillment does indeed occur. I think a prime case and point of this would be the genealogy of Jesus Christ. Throughout the Old Testament Scriptures, we see promises made to Abraham, made to Isaac, made to Jacob, regarding the Messiah that would come from their lineage.

The promise goes on down the line. You see it made to Judah later as well, King David, and others. So you have this groundwork that's been laid. And we won't turn to those Scriptures. You can study that out for yourself. But all these accounts lay the groundwork for a set of genealogies that I want to look at as we begin today in the books of Luke and Matthew. It's the genealogy of Jesus Christ. So let's begin in Luke chapter 3 and verse 23. We'll pick it up here in one set of Christ's genealogy, and then we'll look at Matthew in a moment.

Luke chapter 3 and verse 23. It says, Now Jesus himself began his ministry at about the age of 30, being as it was supposed, the son of Joseph, the son of Heli. And we have this term inserted in here as it was supposed.

You know, Jesus Christ was not the actual physical son of Joseph. He was Joseph's stepson. He was conceived of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, born into the flesh, and Joseph was Jesus Christ's physical father in terms of the one who raised him and filled that role in his life. God was his father by direct creation and the insemination of Mary through the Holy Spirit, but Joseph was, we would say, Christ's stepfather. Again, he says he was the son of Heli.

Now verses 23 through 38 trace Jesus Christ's lineage all the way back through Adam to God. So it goes all the way back to Adam and then says Adam son of God. And wouldn't that be neat to be able to take your genealogy and run it all the way back to the origin of mankind in that way.

It goes back through David. We see in verse 31, again, this is Christ's genealogy. It talks about the fact that it goes through David, the son of Nathan, the son of David. Of course, in the Old Testament, the Messiah was promised from the lineage of David. Verse 33, Judah, we see as well. In verse 33, the son of Perez, the son of Judah.

Verse 34, we see the son of Jacob, the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham. Get all these prophecies that you could find in the Old Testament pointing to the Messiah who had come from their lineage. We have it now as he's been born and the fulfillment of that that can be traced out. It would be traced from the time of Christ going backwards and it could be traced from the time of Abraham going forward and it is consistent. Now, these verses demonstrate God's ability to bring the past, that which he promised to fulfill from the beginning. The genealogy of Jesus Christ in the book of Matthew does the same as well and there's some differences, though, between the two genealogies and it's important for us to notice.

So if you have a marker, keep it here in Luke 3. We'll be coming back, but before we turn to Matthew, look at Luke 3 verse 31. Again, it talks about Christ being of the son of Nathan, the son of David. So let's go over to Matthew chapter 1. Let's notice a little bit of a comparison here. Matthew chapter 1 and verse 1. Here it says, the book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.

We see the confirmation here through David of Abraham as well. Notice verse 6. It says, And Jesse begot David, the king, and David the king begot Solomon by her who had been the wife of Uriah. And so what you'll notice here is that there's a difference in these two genealogies at the time of David's sons. Matthew records that Jesus Christ came through David's son Solomon.

Well, we just read over in the book of Luke that Jesus Christ through that genealogy came through David's son Nathan. And so what you're gonna find is from this point, from the children of David, the genealogy split through two different sons, and the names are different. They're the same from Abraham down to David, and then again they split between Matthew and Luke, between the time of David's son Solomon and Nathan down to Jesus Christ.

Why would that be? Most of you probably know why would that be? Well, the answer simply is that one genealogy is for Joseph, the physical father of Jesus, and the other is for Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ. And scholars recognize that the genealogy in Matthew is the one that belongs to Joseph. The genealogy in Luke belongs to Mary. Again, there are two different genealogies splitting apart at the point of David. One is Joseph's and one is Mary's, but it comes on down to Jesus Christ.

Notice verse 16, still here in Matthew 1, it says, And Jacob begot Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ. So it says, Jacob begot Joseph, Jacob the father of Joseph, and that is correct. Back to Luke chapter 3, Luke chapter 3 and verse 23. Luke 3 verse 23, it's where we started before. Now Jesus himself began his ministry at about 30 years of age, being as it was supposed, the son of Joseph, the son of Heli.

So we see that distinction there. One says he was the son of, says he's the son of Heli here in this case, as opposed to the other. But what you're going to notice is that the term son of is an italics here, son of. It's been added by the translators, and in the original it would simply say the son of Joseph of Heli. So what you have is the fact that Heli is and is generally agreed to is the father of Mary. Joseph would have been his son-in-law. Now what's interesting to note about all of this is the fact that God fulfilled his promise to bring the Messiah through Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, through Judah, through David, on both Mary's side and on Joseph's side.

And God is God, and he does those things, and he fulfills those things according to his will and his purpose. And again, we see that in the genealogies. Now as I stated at the beginning of the message, the title is Five Unlikely Women. Why that title? Five Unlikely Women. Well, there is another difference in these genealogies.

Luke's genealogy here lists all men. It doesn't list any women, and that was generally the custom. It would be, you know, so-and-so, the son of so-and-so, the son of so-and-so, and it would list the men down through the line, as was the custom for the day. On the other hand, Matthew's genealogy lists five women, and that's rather unique.

Let's go back again to the book of Matthew and take a look at that. Matthew chapter 1. Matthew chapter 1, you know, as I said, the genealogies are not for no point. There's a purpose, and here Matthew lists five women. Matthew chapter 1 and verse 3 says, Judah begot Phares and Zera by Tamar. Phares begot Haron and Hezron begot Ram.

Alright, so we have Tamar, woman number one here listed in verse 3. Matthew chapter 1 and verse 5. Salmon begot Boaz by Rahab. Rahab, woman number two. Verse 6, and Jesse begot David the king. David the king begot Solomon by her who had been wife of Uriah. Wife of Uriah, of course, who is Bathsheba. Now, going down to verse 16, and as well, we have, and Jacob begot Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ. So, and I'm not sure if I skipped over verse 5, we have Rahab, but we also have Ruth listed in verse 5.

So, you have five women here who are listed in the genealogy of Jesus Christ. You have Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, Bathsheba, and Mary, the mother of Jesus. Now, obviously, there were more than five women in Christ's genealogy. You know, logic would dictate that there should at least be one woman here, right, for each man listed in the genealogies. So, you know, you can go back to the Old Testament and you can look at the spouses of some of these men, and some of those women were of renown. You have Sarah, the wife of Abraham. She doesn't happen to be listed here. Why these five?

Why these five women? Is there something special that we could see or learn about these five women that God would have had them recorded in the genealogy of Jesus Christ for us to take note of? Again, why these five? I'm not sure I can provide a full answer to that question, but I do think there's a reason that their name is listed there. Obviously, God felt it important for their name to be listed there, and again, the genealogies aren't without purpose.

I've called this message Five Unlikely Women, because, you know what, if you were to take any of these women on their own merit, if you were going to say, all right, we're looking for women to be in the genealogy of Jesus Christ, submit your application here, I would say it's unlikely, really, that any of these five women would have been chosen. We likely would not have chosen these specific ones as their name for purposes.

We would likely have chosen elite women, maybe notable, well-known women, women of the purest blood of the stock of Israel, you know, women noted for righteousness from the very beginning of their life to the end. You know, if you were going to say, all right, who's going to be the lineage of the Son of God, the most perfect man to walk the earth, you would look for perhaps the best candidates for that.

We would not likely have chosen any Gentile women, right, of the line of Israel. That was something that was proudly declared. We would not likely have chosen women with a history of prostitution, harlotry. Likely would not have chosen a beggar from the fields, would likely not have chosen an adulterer, or maybe even a very young lady who we said, you know, she doesn't have much life experience.

I've called this five unlikely women because these women are listed in the genealogy of Jesus Christ, and yet God included them for the fulfillment of His special purpose. And we'll just say there likely is a reason. There is a reason. These are not unlikely women. These are likely women, we'll see as we as we walk through the message. With the Passover fast approaching, I think it's important for us to understand and to consider these five women from the perspective of God's grace, from the perspective of the mercy that God shows to His people as He brings them along the way from where they start to where it is indeed He wants them to be.

I believe there's lessons in each of these women's lives that we would do well to consider, again, keeping our focus forward now as the Passover approaches this year.

So we're going to go through these five women and see what it is that we can learn from their example. The first woman we'll look at today is Tamar.

Tamar. And her story is found in Genesis chapter 38.

If you'll follow me there, please, Genesis chapter 38, beginning in verse 1.

It says, It came to pass at that time that Judah departed from his brothers, and he visited a certain Adamite whose name was Harah. And Judah saw there a daughter of a certain Canaanite whose name was Shewah, and he married her and went into her. So she conceived and bore a son, and he called his name Er. She conceived again and bore a son, and she called his name Onan. And she conceived again and bore a son, and called his name Shewah. He was at Chebes when she bore him. See my struggle with the Hebrew even simply. Again, the point is, he marries this woman. He's a Canaanite woman. Three sons now born to them. Verse 6, And Judah took a wife for Er his firstborn, and her name was Tamar. So now we have Tamar introduced who was likely a native of the land of Canaan as well. Look at the Canaanite here. Verse 7, But Er, Judah's firstborn was wicked in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord killed him. Obviously not a very nice guy that she was married to. You know, consider maybe what even it was like for Tamar to live under him. Verse 8, And Judah said Onan, Go to your brother's wife, marry her, and raise up an heir to your brother. Now this might seem pretty strange, you know, from our perspective, from our culture. You know, go take your brother's wife and raise up an heir. It's not going to be your heir. It's going to be your brother's heir. So to us that might seem a little bit odd, but it was the custom among the descendants of Abraham at this time, and it was also inserted into the law of Moses as well. It was part of the instruction to Israel. Keep your finger here. Let's look at it quickly over in Deuteronomy chapter 25.

We need to consider this principle because it pops up a couple of times as we go through examples today.

Deuteronomy chapter 25 and verse 5 says, If brothers dwell together, and one of them dies and has no son, the widow of the dead man shall not be married to a stranger outside the family. Her husband's brother shall go into her, take her as his wife, and perform the duty of a husband's brother to her. And it shall be that the firstborn son which she bears will succeed to the name of his dead brother, that his name may not be blotted out of Israel. But if the man does not want to take his brother's wife, then let his brother's wife go up to the gates to the elders and say to them, My husband's brother refuses to raise up a name for his brother in Israel. He will not perform the duty of my husband's brother. Then the elders of his city shall call him, speak to him. But if he stands firm and says, I do not want to take her, then his brother's wife shall come to him in the presence of the elders, remove his sandal from his foot, spit in his face, and answer and say, So shall it be done to the man who will not build up his brother's house. And his name shall be called in Israel the house of him who had his sandal removed. So it was obviously a dishonorable thing to refuse to raise up an heir to your brother if his wife was a widow and no son or heir was present. So this is what we find, again, back here in Genesis 38, circumstance with Tamar. Her husband has died. Judah says, All right, to the second-born you go, now fulfill the role, bring an heir for your brother. Genesis 38 and verse 9 says, But Onan knew that the heir would not be his. You know, he's gonna he's gonna marry this woman, bring his child to be, raise him up, invest his resource, and it's not going to be his heir, right? It's going to be his brother's. He knew the heir would not be his, and it came to pass that when he went into his brother's wife, that he admitted on the ground, lest he should give an heir to his brother. And the thing which he did displeased the Lord, therefore he killed him also. Tamar's not having much luck with husbands here. Verse 11, And Judah said that Tamar's daughter-in-law remain a widow in your father's house, till my son Shelah is grown. For he said, Lest he also die like his brothers, and Tamar went and dwelt in her father's house. So now you have the circumstance where, you know, the brother who is supposed to fulfill the obligation is dead. Judah sends her away from the family, supposedly for a short period of time. So the other brother is older, and then she would be brought back in.

You know, to be sent back to your father's house, you know, away from the family that you had been brought into by marriage did run the risk, then, of being cut off from this family.

Verse 12 says, Now in the process of time the daughter of Shelah, Judah's wife died. And Judah was comforted and went up to his sheepsharers at Timah, and he and his friend, Hira, the adulamite.

The sheepsharing time usually was kind of a festive time. There's a windfall of money.

They're up there working together. There's probably festivities. There's probably drinking. There's probably other activities that would go on at such an event as the sheepsharing.

Verse 13, And it was told Tamar, saying, Look, your father-in-law is going up to Timah to shear his sheep. So she took off her widow's garments, covered herself with a veil, wrapped herself, and sat in the open place which was on the way to Timah. For she saw that Shelah was grown, and she was not given to him as wife. You know, the uninspired heading in my Bible for this section says Judah wrongs Tamar. And that's exactly what he did. He wronged Tamar. He apparently had no intention of fulfilling that which he had promised to give her to his third son. That was probably his intention at the time that he sent her away, but now time has passed, and obviously that's not going to be fulfilled. Verse 15, and when Judah saw her, he thought she was a harlot because she had covered her face. Then he turned to her by the way and said, Please let me come into you.

But he did not know that she was his daughter-in-law. So she said, What will you give me that you may come into me? And he said, I will send a young goat from the flock. So she said, What will you give me as a pledge until you send it? You know, how about a little collateral here? Verse 18, then he said, What pledge will I give you? And she said, Your signet and cord and your staff that is in your hand. Then he gave them to her and went into her and she conceived by him. So she arose and went away and laid aside her veil and put on the garments of her widowhood. Jumping down to verse 24, and it came to pass about three months after that Judah was told, saying, Tamar, your daughter-in-law has played the harlot. Furthermore, she is with child by harlotry. So Judah said, Bring her out and let her be burned. You know, what kind of a person is this, right? You know, bring her out, let her be burned. When she was brought out, she sent to her brother-in-law, saying, By the man whom these belong, I am with child. And she said, Please determine who these are, the signet, the cord, and the staff. So Judah acknowledged them and said, She has been more righteous than I, because I did not give her to Shelom, my son, and he never knew her again. Judah never had intimate relationship with Tamar again, but he did take up the responsibility. He did cover the responsibility now which he created. I want to read a quote to you from the United Church of God Bible commentary on this point. It says, Another interesting item in the account is Judah's statement, She has been more righteous than I. This was certainly true. It says, Notice, Although Tamar did dress as a prostitute, it was Judah who solicited her. Yet later Judah sentenced Tamar to be burned as punishment, even though he had been very willing to go into the one whom he thought was a harlot and participate in such a sin himself. In contrast, Tamar was ensuring that an heir would be raised up to her husband, a responsibility which Judah had willfully abandoned. So eventually what transpires from this union, Tamar, again she conceived, she bore twins.

And first one, first born was Feres, the second was Zera. And Feres is listed in the genealogy of Jesus Christ both in Matthew and in Luke's account, thus fulfilling the prophecy that the Messiah would come from Judah. And I'll go back to you again in Genesis here where Jacob is blessing Judah. He says, you know, the scepter shall not depart from Judah, till Shiloh comes, and to him shall be the obedience of the people. The promise of kingship and the scepter and the Messiah, the king of kings who would come from him, came through Tamar through Feres, the firstborn here of those twins. Are there any lessons we can learn from Tamar's example? You might think, well, those might be hard to find.

But are there lessons we can learn? Well, Tamar here apparently understood the value of being a part of the family of Judah. You know, that much is clear. She was an outsider, all right? She was a Canaanite who was brought into the family from the outside. She recognized the blessings and the wealth that had been poured out under the descendants of Abraham. Now, Abraham was wealthy, many servants, many animals, Isaac, Jacob, now Judah. It was a prosperous life that they lived. As part of the family, she would have understood the family heritage and the prophesied blessings, again, that the Messiah would come through this line. Two of the sons were dead with no children. Here she is, promised to the third, the promise of the Messiah coming through there. And yet, apparently, she was going to be cut off. But she wanted to be a part of it. She saw value in this family and what God was doing.

Rather than you and I had been called out of this world into the family of God. I guess the question for us would be, how highly do we value that calling? Do we recognize the value of the family that we have been called into? Do we appreciate the blessings associated with living this way of life?

The fact that we are God's people, called out of this world, and by living according to His ways, there's blessings which come of that. Do we appreciate those things? How much do we desire to become the bride of Jesus Christ? To be married to Christ? How much do we desire that? And to have as an inheritance now as the bride of Christ the blessings of the family of God?

I think there's examples and certainly an illustration we can draw from this. The story of Tamar can be a reminder to us to value what God has offered us as His people and never have a willingness to let go of that calling. You know, we may not praise her for the action that she took, but she desired not to lose her place in that family and not to have the air in that lineage continue in that way. The second woman listed in Christ's genealogy is Rahab. Again, someone probably unlikely to pass a screening for a job position as a upstanding Israelite, at least if you were going to look solely on her history. Rahab was a Canaanite as well from the city of Jericho.

Her story is found in Joshua chapter 2. So let's go there.

Joshua chapter 2. The timing on this is following the Egyptian captivity.

God brings Israel out of Egypt. They refuse to enter the Promised Land the first time, 40 years of wilderness wandering. Now they come up to the Promised Land again. Once you cross the Jordan, now Jericho is the first area of conquest. Joshua chapter 2 and verse 1 says, Now Joshua the son of Nun sent out two men from Acacia Grove to spy secretly, saying, Go view the land, especially Jericho. So they went and came to the house of the harlot named Rahab, and they lodged there. Now there's some discussion, some debate back and forth whether this term translated harlot should literally be harlot or could possibly be innkeeper as it pertains to Rahab. Most commentaries would suggest that Rahab was a harlot, but possibly a temple prostitute, which actually had a more upstanding in that social, you know, it was a cult, it was a culture of paganism. So temple prostitution had a lot higher standing than, say, street prostitution, and it's considered that perhaps Rahab was a temple prostitute. But I don't know that we necessarily need to make a definite determination on that, because I think the point is, whatever the case, she was a gentile, not of Israel-like descent, she was a sinner, and someone who had grown up immersed in a pagan culture. That's the basis of this. Verse 2, and it was told to the king of Jericho, saying, Behold men have come here tonight from the children of Israel to search out the country. So the king of Jericho sent to Rahab, saying, Bring out the men who have come to you, who have entered your house, for they have come to search out all the country. And then the woman who took the two men and hid them, and she said, Yes, the men came to me, but I did not know where they were from. You know, you can't always just take somebody at a snapshot of time in their life and say, Well, they were righteous, called righteous. You know, she's in Hebrews 11 as a person of faith, and just kind of point here and say, you know, how can you call her someone who is faithful? Well, faith, we grow in faith, and our faith deepens with time. And Rahab, at this point, still of Jericho, didn't have a full understanding of exactly the life that God was calling her to.

But you know, she would learn. She would learn. So she lied. She says, you know, they're not here. I don't know where they went. Verse 5, And it happened as the gate was being shut, when it was dark, that the men went out. Where the men went, I do not know. Pursue them quickly, for you may overtake them. But she had brought them up to the roof and hidden them with the stalks of flax, which she had laid in order on the roof. Verse 7, And the men pursued them by the road to the Jordan, to the fords, and as soon as those who pursued them had gone out, they shut the gate. Now before they laid down, Rahab came up to them on the roof, and said to the men, I know that the Lord has given you the land, and that the terror of you has fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land are faint-hearted because of you. We have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites, who were on the other side of the Jordan, Shion and Og, whom you utterly destroyed. And as soon as we heard these things, our hearts melted, neither did there remain any more courage in anyone because of you, for the Lord your God, he is God, in heaven above and on earth beneath.

Clearly Rahab here had developed a faith in the true God of Israel, and he's not just the God of Israel, he is the God of all the earth, of all mankind, but she had developed a faith in him at this point, coming to see his power, coming to understand who he was. And now she's demonstrating her faith by offering protection to the spies, by hiding the spies, and now she's going to ask for their protection in return. Verse 12, Now therefore I beg you, swear to me by the Lord, since I have shown you kindness, that you also will show kindness to my father's house and give me a true token, and spare my father, my mother, my brothers and sisters, and all that they have, and deliver our lives from death. So what you have is now a deal that is struck to preserve Rahab, her family, their household, their things, as God delivers Jericho into Israel's hand.

The deal is struck. Now there's, as you read on, there's an identification. How are we going to know where you at, where you're at, who you are? There's a scarlet cord then that's going to be hung into the window as well. Again from the UCG Bible commentary, it says, A scarlet cord, the instructions to remain inside the house and the family's subsequent deliverance from death do seem to carry with it some remarkable symbolic parallels with the events of the Passover the Israelites had kept in Egypt exactly 40 years earlier. You know, in Egypt, I said, stay in your house. Don't go out till morning. Put the lamb's blood on your doorposts. The destroyer will pass over your house. You'll be spared. You'll be delivered. And here in the case of Rahab, the point was hang the scarlet cord in the window as a type of that blood. Don't go out of the house. You'll be passed over. You will, in fact, be delivered from destruction because of your faith in God. Joshua 6, verse 22. Joshua 6 and verse 22, it says, But Joshua had said to the two men who had spied out the country, Go into the harlot's house, and from there bring out the woman, and all that she has, as you swore to her. You recall Israel had marched around Jericho for seven days, seven days of unleavened bread, and the walls fell. Rahab's house was built into the wall, but it stood. And Joshua said to the spies, Now go and bring her out. Verse 24, But they burned the city, and all that was in it with fire. Only the silver and gold and the vessels of bronze and iron they put into the treasury of the house of the Lord. And Joshua spared Rahab the harlot, her father's household, and all that she had. So she dwells in Israel to this day, because she hid the messengers of whom Joshua sent to spy out Jericho. So we have Rahab, again this woman, in the lineage of Jesus Christ. Her story is one of faith. Her story is one of showing that she believed in God, and that he believed in the word of God and the power of God, and in the delivery of God. And because of that faith, she came to be counted as part of the people of God.

Again, Rahab was a Gentile, and yet she eventually became counted among the people of God. To read down through the storyline further, you find that Rahab married Salomon of the tribe of Judah, and she was the great-grandmother of King David, again included there in the genealogy of Jesus Christ. What lessons can we learn from Rahab? The one who the Bible calls Rahab the harlot. Again, she's listed in Hebrews 11 as a hero of faith. Rahab is a reminder to us today of the salvation that God offers through faith. She's a reminder that Israelites and Gentiles alike can be part of the spiritual Israel of God by coming under the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, by exercising faith in God. Through that faith, our sins can be passed over. Forgiveness can occur. Reconciliation with God in deliverance from the penalty of death occurs in our lives. Again, Rahab, the Gentile, the sinner, was delivered from destruction. As we come up to the Passover, the reminder of God's grace, that our sins can be passed over. We can be brought out of this world into our lives.

We can be brought out of this world into the family of God by exercising faith towards God.

Third woman listed in Christ's genealogy is Ruth. Go over just a couple of books to Ruth chapter 1.

Joshua judges Ruth. Ruth chapter 1. Ruth was not a native Israelite either.

Ruth was of Moab. She was a Moabite. She was a foreigner, actually. Actually, descended down from the lineage of Lot. Ruth chapter 1. The story begins with Naomi and her husband, Elimelech, and they leave Bethlehem of Judah. They go over to Moab. Eventually, Elimelech dies. Naomi's two sons take wives from Moab. Eventually, her two sons die as well, leaving Naomi and her two daughter-in-laws alone. Naomi decides it's in her best interest now to return to the land of her people and people of God back in Judah. And she packs up the parts of Moab, her daughter-in-laws, with her. Let's pick up the account here in Ruth chapter 1 and verse 11. Let's do that. Ruth 1 verse 11. But Naomi said to her daughters-in-law, Turn back, my daughters. Why will you go with me? Are there still sons in my womb that they may be your husbands? Again, we see the practice here of the concept of the kinsmen redeemer, the brother that would come and then take to wife the widow and raise up an heir to their brother. And she's saying, you know what, are there still sons in my womb that I could raise up sons that would eventually be your husbands? Verse 12, she says, Turn back, my daughters. Go. For I am too old to have a husband. If I should say I have hope, if I should have a husband tonight and should also bear sons, would you wait for them till they were grown? Would you restrain yourselves from having husbands? Know my daughters, for it grieves me very much for your sakes that the hand of the Lord has gone out against me. She then lifted up, they lifted up their voices, they wept again, and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, you know, kissed her goodbye, but Ruth clung to her. So, Naomi's heading back. Orpah and Ruth, they're Moabites, you know, why not stay in their own land, find husbands, get settled back in, and go on with their life. Apparently, Orpah thought that was rather fine. It says, but Ruth clung to her. She would not release her. She did not want to depart from Naomi.

Carrying on in verse 15, and she said, Look, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods. Return after your sister-in-law. You know, go have a life. Verse 16, But Ruth said, Entreat me not to leave you or to turn back from following after you. For wherever you go, I will go. Wherever you lodge, I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, your God, my God. Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. The Lord do so to me, and more also, if anything but death, parts you and me. Verse 18, And when she saw that she was determined to go with her, she stopped speaking to her. So what we find with Ruth here is that she had this admirable quality of faithfulness, of loyalty to her mother-in-law, Naomi. She did not want to be parted from her. In fact, she said, Your God will be my God. So Naomi returns to Bethlehem of Judah.

The Moebite Ruth with her settled into the land. As the story goes on, Ruth's out, gleaning grain in the field for their provision. She catches the eye of Boaz, who shows her favor. Ruth chapter 2 now, and verse 10.

Ruth 2 and verse 10, it says, So she fell on her face, bowed down to the ground, and said to Boaz, Why have I found favor in your eyes, that you should take notice of me, since I am a foreigner?

And Boaz answered and said to her, It has been fully reported to me all that you have done for your mother-in-law, since the death of your husband, and how you have left your father, your mother, in the land of your birth, and have come to a people whom you did not know before.

He says, The Lord repay your work, and a full reward be given to you by the Lord God of Israel, under whose wings you have come for refuge. He recognized her loyalty, her faithfulness, her coming to understand who God was, and to follow Him now as well. Verse 19, And her mother-in-law said to her, Well, where have you gleaned today? Where did you work? Blessed be the one who took notice of you. So she told her mother-in-law with whom she had worked, and said, The man's name, of whom, with whom I work today, is Boaz. Then Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, Blessed be he of the Lord, who has not forsaken his kindness to the living and the dead. And Naomi said to her, This man is a relation of ours, one of our close relatives.

In fact, Boaz was a close enough relation to Ruth that he could play the part of the kinsmen Redeemer. Verse chapter 3 verse 1, trying to condense this for us, chapter 3 verse 1, Then Naomi, her mother-in-law said to her, My daughter, shall ye not seek security for you, that it may be well with you? You know, let me play matchmaker here, because, you know, sometimes men we have to move on. Saves us trouble in life.

Alright, verse 2, Now Boaz, whose young women you are with, is he not our relative? In fact, is he is now widowing barley tonight at the threshing floor. Therefore, wash yourself, anoint yourself, put on your best garment, and go down to the threshing floor. But do not make yourself known to the man until he is finished eating and drinking. Then it shall be, when he lies down, that you shall notice the place where he lies. You shall go in, uncover his feet, and lie down, and he will tell you what you should do. Verse 5, And she said to her, All that you say to me I will do. So she went down to the threshing floor, and did according to all that her mother-in-law instructed her. And after Boaz had eaten and drunk, and his heart was cheerful, he went to lie down at the end of the heap of grain. And she came softly, uncovered his feet, and lay down. Now it happened at midnight that the man was startled, and turned himself, and there was a woman lying at his feet.

Verse 9, Then he said, Who are you? So she answered, I am Ruth, your maidservant. Take your maidservant under your wing, for you are a close relative. She's asking Boaz, indeed, if he will fulfill the duty of the kinsman-redeemer, to take her as his wife, to raise up an heir to her husband. Verse 10, Then he said, Blessed are you of the Lord, my daughter, for you have shown more kindness at the end than at the beginning, and that you did not go after young men, whether poor or rich. It's the indication Boaz was actually quite a bit older than Ruth, calls her here my daughter.

Verse 11, And now my daughter do not fear. I will do for you all that you request, for all the people of my town know that you are a virtuous woman. I think verse 11 here speaks volumes of Ruth's character. She was known in Bethlehem. People had seen her. She wasn't known for scandalous behavior of maybe what could be attributed to a foreigner of Israel. It says, You are a virtuous woman.

The words you speak and how you've conducted yourself, all who have seen you know this to be true. Verse 12, Now it is true that I am a close relative. However, there is a relative closer than I. We won't read through all the detail, but as the story goes on, then this other close relative relinquishes his right to redeem to Boaz. Ruth 4 and verse 13. So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife. And when he went into her, the Lord gave her conception and she bore a son. Then the woman said to Naomi, Blessed be the Lord who has not left you this day without a close relative, and may his name be famous in Israel. And may he be to you a restorer of life and a nourisher of your old age, for your daughter-in-law who loves you, who is better to you than seven sons, has borne him.

Verse 16. Then Naomi took the child, laid him on her bosom, and became a nurse to him. Also, the neighbor women gave him a name, saying, There is a son born to Naomi, and they called his name Obed. He is the father of Jesse, the father of David. Of course, from that line sprung Jesus Christ. Verse 18. Now this is the genealogy of Feres. Again, you remember Feres was the firstborn of Tamar by Judah. It's the genealogy of Feres. Feres begot Hezron. Hezron begot Ram. Ram begot Aminadab. Aminadab begot Naishon. Naishon begot Salmon. It was Salmon. He was the one Rahab, from Jericho, had married Salmon. Salmon begot Boaz, right, the husband of Ruth.

Boaz begot Obed. Obed begot Jesse. Jesse begot David. Ruth was a person of remarkable character. Again, faithful, dedicated. She was known in the community as a virtuous woman. She was willing to leave behind everything that she knew in order to serve Naomi, in order to serve the God of Israel. The story of Ruth foreshadows how Gentiles would be called to join spiritual Israel. Again, those that would be brought in from the outside through the kinsmen Redeemer. Again, brought to join spiritual Israel, a God, upon repentance and faith. The relationship between Boaz and Ruth is a type of the marriage relationship between Jesus Christ and the Church. Because Jesus Christ is our kinsmen Redeemer.

He came to be like one of his brethren to redeem us, to buy us back from the penalty of sin and death, to restore us, to take us under his wing in that sense. Through the forgiveness of sin, we have been bought back by the blood of Jesus Christ. He is our kinsmen Redeemer.

As we approach the Passover, we should remember the price that he paid so that you and I would be redeemed from sin. The family line continues. There are indeed errors unto salvation.

The kinsmen Redeemer has seen that that line will not go unattended to.

Fourth woman listed in Christ's genealogy is Bathsheba. Bathsheba she was referred to in the genealogy as she who is the wife of Uriah. Bathsheba is best known for the adultery that she shared with King David. That's probably the first thing that pops into your mind. Let's go to 2 Samuel chapter 11 verse 2.

Second Samuel chapter 11 beginning in verse 2.

It says, Then it happened one evening that David arose from his bed, walked out on the roof of the king's house. And from the roof he saw a woman bathing, and the woman was very beautiful to behold.

Verse 3. So David sent and inquired about the woman, and someone said, Is this not Bathsheba, the daughter of Elam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite? Actually, if you read through, Elam and Uriah were of David's mighty men, his fighting men. You know, they had spent years with David, probably sitting around the campfire out in the wilderness with David, on the run likely from Saul with David. These were faithful men. And Bathsheba here, the daughter of Elam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite. Verse 4. Then David sent messengers and took her, and she came to him, and he lay with her. For she was cleansed from her impurity, and she returned to her house.

What's not clear from Scripture is whether Bathsheba entered into this circumstance willingly or not. You know, adultery is a two-person activity. As you might say, it takes two to tango. But, you know, when the king sends soldiers to your door, and they bring you into the presence of the king, he's called you into his presence. You know, rejecting the king isn't necessarily the first option either. So, it's not exactly clear whether she went into this fully willingly or not, but the point is sin was conceived and took place. Adultery took place. Verse 5. And the woman conceived. So she sent and told David and said, I am with child. We know the rest of the story. Her husband Uriah paid a very heavy price for David's sin. David, in an attempt to cover up what he had done, sends Uriah out into the battle. The men draw back. Uriah is killed. That was the instruction that David sent.

Uriah was killed to cover up David's sin and David's bad behavior. Verse 26.

Second Samuel 11. Verse 26.

It says, When the wife of Uriah heard that Uriah, her husband, was dead, she mourned for her husband in a very, very sad situation all the way around. Verse 27. And when her morning was over, David sent and brought her to his house, and she became his wife and bore him a son. But the thing that David had done displeased the Lord. There's another passage that says that David walked before God and was pleasing the God in all his ways, except for the matter of Uriah the Hittite. It says, this thing displeased the Lord. Second Samuel chapter 12 verse 15.

Prophet Nathan then comes and speaks to David. Verse 15. Then Nathan departs to his house, and the Lord struck the child that Uriah's wife bore to David, and it became ill.

Ultimately, the child produced in the adulterous affair dies because of David's sin.

Bathsheba loses her husband. She loses her child. Again, the consequences of sin can be very deep, very heartfelt, heart-rending in many ways. It's just a sad mess all the way around.

Psalm chapter 51 is David's psalm of repentance written in the aftermath of this sin.

I want to turn there just briefly. We won't read the whole thing, but I would like us to consider Psalm 51 in light of this. Again, it's David's psalm of repentance, and we read it. Oftentimes, as we come up to the Passover, we read it as a part of the process that takes place in the cutting to the heart that we experience as we acknowledge sin and then the repentance that we bring before God. But let's consider some of the psalm in the light of the repentance that, perhaps, Bathsheba might have felt as well. Again, these are David's words in David's psalms, and yet the indication is that they became very close. She had gone through the suffering of her husband and her child dying. This is speculation on my part, but I think Bathsheba was repentant as well. Psalm 51, these were David's thoughts, and I consider perhaps they could have been shared by Bathsheba as well. Psalm 51 in verse 1, Have mercy on me, O God, according to your love and kindness, according to the multitude of your tender mercies, blot out my transgressions.

Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, cleanse me from my sin, for I acknowledge my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. Against you and you only have I sinned, and none is evil in your sight, that you may be found just when you speak, and blameless when you judge. Again, this is David's repentance, but quite likely Bathsheba's mindset as well. Verse 7, Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean. Wash me, and I shall be wider than snow. Make me hear joy and gladness, that the bones which you have broken may rejoice. Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from your presence. Do not take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me by your generous spirit. King David recognized the value of being right with God. He didn't want to be cut off. He didn't want to be separate. He was truly repentant. He desired to be forgiven of his sins, again made right with God again. It's interesting to think about and consider why God would have chosen Bathsheba to be the one in the lineage of Jesus Christ. You know, David had other wives. He had other children. You know, why her? Why Bathsheba?

She's listed amongst the genealogy. Again, it's a speculation, but could it be that God, she saw God in the way that David did? That she came to acknowledge God as the one that she needed to be reconciled to? That she understood the depth of their sin? Could it be that she saw God as a God who is just, but also merciful and forgiving? Could Bathsheba have sought to come under the grace of God's forgiveness? Just as David did, you know, cut to the heart, seeking to be cleansed, seeking to be reconciled. I think it's likely. It does appear that King David and Bathsheba had a close relationship as husband and wife from that point forward. Back to 2 Samuel chapter 12. 2 Samuel 12 and verse 24.

It says, Then David comforted Bathsheba his wife, and went into her, and lay with her, so she bore a son, and he called his name Solomon. Now the Lord loved him, loved Solomon, and he sent word by the hand of Nathan the prophet, so he called his name Jedidiah because of the Lord. Jedidiah literally means beloved of the Lord. In marriage, in that proper union, David and Bathsheba produced Solomon, the next king of Israel, continuing on the promise line of descent down to the Messiah.

Now it's interesting to notice because, again, remember in the genealogies, one came through Solomon and the other came through Nathan. When you research it out, Bathsheba had four sons. One was Solomon, another was Nathan. And so this line actually came down to both Joseph and Mary's side through David and Bathsheba. She's listed as part of the lineage of Jesus Christ. Lesson we can take from all of this is that although we stumble in sin, we can still come to God in sincere repentance. We can still come before the throne of grace, acknowledging our sins. Sometimes I think in sin we, in our mind, say, well, I'm clean, I'm filthy, I can't come into the presence of God. But, brethren, that is when we must come into the presence of God, seeking reconciliation, seeking to be made right with Him again.

And indeed, the grace of God should be an element of our focus as we come up to the Passover.

Final woman listed in Christ's genealogy is Mary. Mary, the mother of Jesus. There's nothing in Mary's profile that I think we would look at and find cringe-worthy. Like the other women, there were things in their history that we would cringe at, but not so with Mary. Mary appears to have been very upstanding in her life, although many people would have commonly considered her to be a fornicator. Many in the community around her, because you see, Mary can see as a child out of wedlock. She was betrothed to Joseph, but they were not married, and she shows up pregnant. What are people going to think in the community around her? You recall Jesus Christ's interactions, and he was accused. You know, we have not been born of fornication, some said to him. So here you have a young lady, Mary, now who is conceived. She is carrying the Messiah, yet she's dedicated in service to God. Mary appears to have been very young at this point, and many scholars actually put her within her teenage years at some point when she conceived and received this special calling from God. And it's because of her youth that I said, well, she would be an unlikely woman. But you know, when you study out her story, when you see her response to God, what you find is that her attitude towards God shows that the opposite is true. She was a very likely woman to fulfill this position. Let's look at Luke chapter 1, verse 26. Luke chapter 1, verse 26, says, Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph of the house of David. The virgin's name was Mary. And having come in, the angel said to her, Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women. But when she saw him, she was troubled at this saying and considered what manner of greeting this was. Then the angel said to her, Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a son, and shall call his name Jesus. He will be great, and he will be called the Son of the highest. And the Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever. And of his kingdom there will be no end.

Then Mary said to the angel, How can this be, since I do not know a man? And the angel said to the Lord, The Holy Spirit will come upon you. And the power of the highest will overshadow you. Therefore also that holy one who is to be born will be called the Son of God.

Now indeed, Elizabeth, your relative, has also conceived a son in her old age. And this is now the sixth month for her who was called barren. Recall then this is John the Baptist that Elizabeth is carrying. Verse 37, For with God nothing will be impossible. Then Mary said, Behold the maidservant of the Lord. Think about those words. Consider. She says, Behold the maidservant of the Lord. I am God's servant. You're coming to me, young woman, unmarried woman. You tell me I'm going to carry this child. He's going to be the next Messiah.

In one sense you might say that is what every woman of Israel would have dreamed of being in that position. Mary didn't say, You've come to the right person. She said, Behold the maidservant of the Lord. I'm in your service. Let it be to me according to your word. And the angel departed from her. What we find is that Mary's attitude was one of complete compliance and submission to the will of God. No matter the consequences, no matter what might have been said about her in the community, carrying a child out of wedlock, Joseph responded honorably as well once he understood what it was that was taking place here. But you know, she says, Whatever God desires to do, I'll do it. And her attitude was out of submission and service to God. Notice the words here beginning in verse 46. And Mary said, My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior. For he has regarded the lowly state of his maidservant. For behold, henceforth, all generations will call me blessed. For he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name.

And his mercy is on those who hear him from generation to generation. He has shown strength with his arm. He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts. He has put down the mighty from their thrones and exalted the lonely. He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty. He has helped his servant Israel in remembrance of his mercy, as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham, and to his seed forever.

Mary submitted to God's will for her, and beyond just submitting, she rejoiced in the calling from God. She rejoiced in what it was that God was allowing her to participate in, the birth of the Messiah, in her heart, even at a very young age, at an age of what could possibly have been a teenager, even at that point in her life, her heart and her desire was dedicated to serving God. Again, she says, you know, I'm the maid servant. Behold, the maid servant of the Lord.

Brother, this needs to be our attitude and our calling towards God as well. Our attitude needs to be one of humble submission and service, one of rejoicing in what it is that God has called us to and what it is that God seeks to fulfill through us. We should not live this way of life grudgingly or feeling like we're under some burden. We must rejoice in the calling of God. We've been redeemed. We've been bought out of the penalty of sin and death. What a joyous thing that is. To then respond in service to God. That was Mary's mindset. Behold, you're maid servant. She says, God, I am your servant. There are five women listed out for us here in the genealogy of Jesus Christ. Each of their stories shows forth various aspects of God's mercy and God's grace.

As we approach the Passover this year, let's be thankful for the blessing that we've had poured out on us to be a part of the spiritual family of God. Remember Tamar, she recognized the value of being part of the family. Let us recognize the value of the family God has called us to as well.

Let us rejoice in the deliverance from sin that has come upon us by exercising faith in God and his Son Jesus Christ, by coming under that sacrifice as Rahab did, and in the expression of faith towards God. Let us value our kinsmen Redeemer, as Ruth did, the one who has bought us back from sin and death, who has laid his life down for us. Let us never forget that there is a throne of grace that we can approach, that when we stumble, when we sin and fall short, as David and Bathsheba did, that we can come before God and be set on the right path again.

Brethren, let us always have a heart of rejoicing in what it is that God has called us to do in his service. So we approach the Passover this year. Let us consider these five extremely likely women of God.