Five Women From The Genealogy Of Jesus

LESSONS FROM WOMEN OF THE BIBLE

Five Women
From The Genealogy Of Jesus

“Favour is deceitful and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the LORD, she shall be praised.
Give her of the fruit of her hands; and let her own works praise her in the gates.”
Proverbs 31:30-31

One of my favorite topics in the Bible is that of women, because God holds godly women in such high favor. John Bunyan summarized the value of women in his book, Pilgrim’s Progress:

“When the Savior was come, women rejoiced in Him, before either man or angel. I read not, that ever any man did give unto Christ so much as one small coin, but the women followed Him, and ministered to Him of their substance. It was a woman that washed His feet with tears, and a woman that anointed His body to the burial. They were women that wept when He was going to the cross; and women that followed Him from the cross, and that sat by His sepulcher when He was buried. They were women that were first with Him at His resurrection morn; and women that brought tidings first to His disciples, that He was risen from the dead. Women, therefore, are highly favored.”

The women chosen for this article are all found hidden in the genealogy of the Lord Jesus in Matthew 1. Their lives span the Bible from Genesis to Matthew. Four were probably Gentiles, brought into the commonwealth of Israel, while the last was definitely Jewish-born. Some had bad reputations before turning around, and some were virtuous. Most importantly, they speak today to every person who desires to bring forth fruit unto eternal life.

In this genealogy, many men are listed, but only five women. But why would any women be mentioned at all, especially any of Gentile origin, in a paternalistic Jewish genealogy? God must have hidden something there for us to uncover. (Prov. 25:2) The women we’ll consider are Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, Bathsheba (unnamed), and Mary, the mother of Jesus. Let’s look at who each one was, her notable deeds, and then how her story applies to us today.

Tamar
Tamar is mentioned in Matthew 1:3, but her story is found in Genesis 38. She seems to have understood that the firstborn is essential, that he has pre-eminence over all others. Judah’s Canaanite wife bore him three sons, Er, Onan, and Shelah. Judah took Tamar, presumably a Canaanite also, as a wife for Er. After Er died in judgment for his wickedness, Onan was commanded to take Tamar as a wife to raise seed to the firstborn (first mention of this policy later put into the Law of Moses). He did not comply 100%, and died also. Shelah was young, and his father, Judah, fearing for Shelah’s life sent Tamar back to live with her father.

When it became clear to Tamar that she would never be Shelah’s wife, she took an opportunity after Judah’s wife died to perpetuate the line of Judah’s firstborn, in what to us should seem a shocking manner. She veiled her true identity and disguised herself as a prostitute. Judah was deceived and went in unto her. God granted her conception with not one but two boys.

When the twins were born, Zerah started to come out first and a scarlet thread was tied to his wrist, but he pulled his hand back in and Pharez came out first. Meanwhile, Shelah married someone else and called his firstborn Er (1 Chr. 4:21), as if to say, “I’ve solved the problem of who is the firstborn in Judah’s line.”

So who really was the firstborn? God had a pre-eminent One in mind – not according to man’s schemes and desires – so the tribe of Judah prevailed above his brothers (1 Chr. 5:1-2). God further chose Pharez as the one through whom Christ came, who is the firstborn among many brethren (Rom. 8:29), the firstborn from the dead (Col. 1:18), and the firstborn of every creature (Col. 1:15).

Tamar’s desire for fruit is noteworthy. She veiled who she was, humbling herself greatly, in order to preserve a lineage which would eventually open the way for all to gain eternal life. Similarly, Christ veiled His glory and humbled Himself greatly in order to produce a heavenly line, heirs of God and joint heirs with Him. Let us not be afraid to humble ourselves before men and put our trust in Him.

Rahab
Unlike Tamar – who posed as a harlot, but wasn’t – Rahab (Mt. 1:5) really was a prostitute. Her story is found in Joshua 2 and 6. Her lifestyle perverted the image of the beautiful marriage relationship God designed as a reflection of His relationship with His people. But she saw the judgment of God coming upon her and was moved with fear, to the saving of all in her father’s house.

Taking an opportunity God must have given her, she saved two Israelite spies from her king, an act of treason. Considering the curse of God (Josh. 6:17) greater than the curse of man, she aided the spies with information for their safe return (Josh 2:16). She openly acknowledged the Lord their God as the “God in heaven above and the earth beneath” (Josh. 2:11). She put her faith, in the promise of God’s messengers, into immediate action by binding a scarlet thread in her window that very day (Josh. 2:21), even though the judgment day was far off (a month or more). Her life and the life of her father’s house hung on that little scarlet thread symbolizing the blood of Christ.

For that trust she is catalogued with the examples of faith in Hebrews 11, and is on equal footing with Abraham himself in James 2. She typifies the way one brings forth fruit unto God by trusting in the Word of God. She gives hope to the worst of sinners, for her sinful past was wiped away.

Ruth
Ruth (Mt. 1:5) is a stalwart of virtue, knowing her place before God and continuing in faithfulness. Her story, in the Book of Ruth, is contemporary with the first half of the Book of Judges. This faithful, obedient, satisfied woman lived during that time of strife and bloodshed. She was a Moabitess, cursed as one who would never enter into the congregation of the Lord even to the tenth generation – perhaps as many as 400 years (Dt. 23:3). Yet she was graciously brought in by her allegiance to her mother-in-law (Ruth 1:16), saying, “Thy people shall be my people, and thy God, my God.”

Ruth was praised by Boaz for her care of Naomi and for her virtue (Ruth 2:11-12, 3:11). Boaz, a mighty man and apparently much older (Ruth 3:10), was willing to buy all that was Elimelech’s (Naomi’s husband) to raise up the name of Elimelech upon his inheritance. This included taking Ruth as his wife. The firstborn son of the union between Boaz and Ruth would obtain Elimelech’s inheritance due to the good work of the kinsman redeemer. Thus Ruth became the daughter-in-law of Rahab and great-grandmother of David, the great king of Israel and man after God’s own heart.

Ruth speaks to us of the enjoyment of life under God’s care, reaping the fruits of God’s righteousness. We can be like Ruth, for we, too, have a kinsman redeemer like Boaz – the Lord Jesus Christ, who purchased us with His own blood to raise us up to an inheritance undefiled, and that shall never fade away. We can be satisfied in Jesus, for God is satisfied as well.

Bathsheba
Bathsheba is identified only as the one “that had been the wife of Uriah” in the genealogy of the Lord Jesus (Mt. 1:6). Her story is sad, yet it presents to us the tremendous grace of God. It unfolds in 2 Samuel 11: “At the time when kings go forth to battle, David sent Joab ... but David tarried still at Jerusalem” (2 Sam. 11:1) David rested when he should have fought. He arose from his bed in the evening and walked out on the roof, from where he saw a very beautiful woman washing herself. David inquired and found out that she was Uriah’s wife. Uriah was one of David’s mighty men of valor (1 Chr. 11:41), a man whom David knew. David sent for her, and they apparently came together willingly .

Bathsheba became pregnant by David. To hide his sin, by making it seem that Uriah was the child’s father, David called Uriah back from the war. David thought that Uriah would surely take advantage of being home to engage with his wife. But Uriah never went home; instead, he slept at the door of the king’s house.

David, seeing his plan foiled, sent Joab a letter by Uriah, carrying his death sentence. As arranged, Uriah died in battle, and word was sent to David. After Bathsheba mourned her husband’s death, David sent for her, and she became his wife. “But the thing that David had done displeased the Lord” (2 Sam. 11:27). Clearly God held David responsible for this sin. No responsibility was laid on either Bathsheba or Uriah. The child produced by sin died, but Bathsheba became David’s lawful wife and mother of his sons, Solomon and Nathan.

Mary
Perhaps the only Jewish woman in our list (Mt. 1:16), Mary was descended from Nathan (Lk. 3:31). The great promise to the Serpent in the garden, that the seed of the woman would bruise his head, was fulfilled through her. The great promise to the house of David, that a virgin would conceive and bring forth a son, was fulfilled in her (Isa. 7:14). Thus she was highly favored, the Lord was with her, and she was blessed (Lk. 1:28). Unlike Zacharias, John the Baptist’s father, she believed the angel’s tidings concerning her and the child she was to bear (Lk. 1:12). She hid many things in her heart, considering them to be of God, and meditated on them (Lk. 2:19,51).

She recognized Jesus’ authority when she asked Him to intervene at the wedding in Cana, which was the beginning of miracles done by Him (Jn. 2:3). During His lifetime, Jesus’ brothers did not believe on Him, but His mother did. She was at the cross (Jn. 19:25), and with the disciples after His ascension (Acts 1:14). So Mary was a very thoughtful, understanding, and consistent woman.

More importantly, if Mary, as a sinner in need of a savior (Lk. 1:47), could carry that holy child within her and give birth to the holy, undefiled Son of God, then we, too, in a spiritual way, can bring forth Christ in our lives and can be like Him.

God’s great desire is that we should bring forth fruit unto Him by having the character of Christ reproduced in our hearts. Tamar speaks of the fervent desire to bring forth fruit unto God. Rahab speaks of the way to bring forth fruit by faith in His promises. Ruth speaks of enjoying this good fruit. Bathsheba speaks of being careful not to lose the enjoyment of this fruit. Mary speaks of the perfection of this fruit unto God. Surely He is a God of grace and mercy, as these five notable women of the genealogy of Jesus Christ display.

By Tom Steere