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[0:00] Who brought Joseph to Egypt? Okay, so it's the Ishmaelites' fault that he's there.

[0:18] ! It's not? Okay, so it's his brother's fault he was there.!

[0:29] Right? What'd Joseph say? Is he wrong or are they wrong?

[0:43] Who organized this? God! Did they have decisions to make? Yeah! Now, do I know how God's sovereign plan works with my individual decision?

[0:58] Not very well, I don't. But I'm thankful for God's overriding plan.

[1:08] So we're going to look at that. So, you thought we were going to Genesis chapter 44, but we're going further back than that. As a matter of fact, if you want some background on names, it will be Luke chapter 3 and Matthew chapter 1.

[1:29] How many of you have ever memorized the genealogy of Jesus? Jesus? Raise your hand. Neither have I.

[1:39] Oh, Sherry did one time. Sherry used to be in a Bible quizzing thing when she was a teenager. And she memorized the book of Luke.

[1:53] The chapter. A couple of chapters. A couple of chapters. Okay. So, do you remember them?

[2:05] Okay. Unless you rehearse it every few weeks, you don't remember it usually. All right. But in Luke chapter 3, there's a genealogy.

[2:18] In Matthew chapter 1, there's a genealogy. I took most of this from Matthew chapter 1. But Matthew chapter 1, the genealogy of Christ begins where?

[2:36] With whom? Okay. Okay. It runs from Jesus to the ancient, to the predecessor.

[2:51] Luke runs the opposite direction. All right. But nevertheless, who's the oldest?

[3:04] Who's the first one in antiquity that is mentioned in Luke? Adam. Who's the first one in Matthew mentioned?

[3:16] Abraham. Abraham. Now, we, however, have started in this class. We started in chapter 1.

[3:28] We started with Adam. So, we're going to start there. And that's what I, I tried to rewrite it. You'll have to catch me on it. But Luke chapter 3, verses, I specifically use verses 34 through 38.

[3:45] And the reason I used those as a predecessor to Matthew chapter 1, verse 1, the reason I did that was because they run oppositely, you see.

[3:57] Okay. So, let's start there. Adam is referred to as who?

[4:12] The son of God in that. Now, I thought Jesus was the son of God. And he's also God, yes.

[4:29] Yes. Well, we'll remember that. See, Thursday we celebrate what? Christmas.

[4:40] What does that mean, by the way? Literally, it's the Christ Mass. Now, I'm not going to Mass on Christmas morning.

[4:55] That's fine. But, because I don't, I don't subscribe to the sacramental view of salvation.

[5:06] But, nevertheless, that's what it means. And the gathering is to celebrate the birth of whom?

[5:18] Jesus. Christ. What does Christ mean? Messiah. What does it mean, literally? The anointed one.

[5:29] The anointed of God. Now, Jesus is not, in the Old Testament, the only person referred to as Messiah. But, he is the Messiah.

[5:46] Now, he's the anointed of God for a special duty. Now, in John, chapter 1, finish this.

[6:05] He came into his own, unto his own, and his own received him not. Who was his own? Who were his own?

[6:17] I'm sorry. Israel. But, they rejected their Messiah. So, did that thwart God's plan?

[6:30] That's kind of where we're going with this, isn't it? So, let's look at the genealogy just a little bit, just for fun. Because, we'll give some pointers.

[6:44] That is, we meaning you. As to the names that really stand out. So, we're going to start with Adam, the son of God. He was the father of Seth.

[6:58] All right. Jump in. And, Seth is the father of... And, he's the father of...

[7:11] And, he is the father of... Mahalia, that word. And, he is the father of...

[7:22] And, he is the father of... Who is the father of... Now, you're not jumping in like I had hoped for a couple.

[7:33] You knew that Seth was the firstborn mentioned after... Abel. Right. He was the firstborn after Abel and after Cain's being driven from their area.

[7:55] So, Seth was the firstborn. We are now at Enoch. What do you know about Enoch? Enoch. He walked with God.

[8:09] And, he... He was not for... God took him. So, Enoch didn't see death. The physical death.

[8:21] Now... Who else... Specifically, did we know... Walked with God...

[8:33] Prior to Enoch? Adam and Eve. We know that Adam and Eve walked with God. We know that Enoch walked with God.

[8:47] Now, who did... Who did... Who's Enoch the father of? Actually... By the way... Enoch is mentioned in Hebrews. Is he not?

[8:58] Okay. Enoch is the father of whom? Jump in. What about Methuselah? Why is he special?

[9:14] Okay. He lived a long time. Now, Adam lived 930 years. That sounds to me like a long time. How long did Methuselah live?

[9:31] 969. Yeah. That's what the... That's what the Southern Gospel Quartet taught me. You know the song, don't you? Or you've heard it.

[9:42] Lived 900 years in 69. Died and went to heaven in plenty good time. Brain sludge. I heard that in the 50s.

[9:54] You know, when the Southern Gospel Quartets were traveling the country in buses. All right. So... Methuselah. The oldest man recorded.

[10:07] Right? All right. So he's the father of whom? Okay. Who is the father of? Okay.

[10:18] Now, somebody jump in about Noah. Why did Noah build the ark? By the way, what's an ark? Well, the children of Israel carried an ark.

[10:38] Yeah. Yeah. It's a coffin. A container. A box. Now, Noah... The ark that Noah built, that box was a big box.

[10:50] Now, where did he get the idea? Hmm. Okay.

[11:00] Where did he get the plans? God. How old was he when he began the ark?

[11:14] 500 years old. I'm kind of ashamed. I retired from active duty when I was...

[11:27] Active work when I was 70. He's 500. And he's building a monster. Okay. So, what about him?

[11:41] Why... Why is that a deal? Why the boat? Why? He's going to destroy creation except for the sea life.

[12:01] And even some of them are going to die in it. But he's going to destroy life. So did God recreate?

[12:12] He saved Noah and his family. And? Good morning. Two of all the creatures, a male and a male.

[12:30] Okay, there's a reason for this. Right. And repopulate the earth.

[12:42] Now, there were some animals we are not told how he knew. But there were some animals he took sevens of. Either seven pair or seven animals.

[12:57] And those he took extra because God told him to. And he made a sacrifice of thanks after he came safely out of the ark.

[13:12] How long were they in the ark? Now, think about this. You are in a closed, floating barn. How long?

[13:25] It rained for 40 days and 40 nights. It was a year. Noah.

[13:36] Now, Noah was the father of Shem.

[13:56] Now, we're only using one descendant because that's who's named. But these aren't their only children. They're not all single children families, of course.

[14:08] So, he's the father of Shem. From which we get the word Semite. Go ahead. Shem is the father of Arphaxad.

[14:22] Who is the father of? Another one. Canaan. Canaan. Who is the father of? Who is the father of?

[14:36] Heber. Okay. What's the significance with Heber? We don't know much about him other than he's the father of the next guy. But, his name is that from which we get Hebrew.

[14:53] Hence, Abraham will be called the Hebrew. So, and by the way, Joseph, what did Potiphar's wife say to Potiphar when he came home?

[15:06] After she had misbehaved. That's a... Boy, that's an understatement, isn't it? Yeah.

[15:17] That Hebrew that you brought into our house is mocking us. All right? So, Heber. Heber is the father of? Peleg.

[15:31] Do you remember anything about Peleg? Peleg. The only thing I remember is it was in his days that the earth was divided.

[15:43] That's all I remember from it. I don't know whether that meant the Tower of Babel, whether that meant a division of rivers.

[15:54] I do not... Whether that meant that God broke up the continents. I don't have any idea. That's all it says. Okay. That means... Okay.

[16:06] He is the father of? Ru. Who is the father of? Who is the father of?

[16:19] Now we're getting into more familiar names, aren't we? Who's Nahor? Nahor. Go ahead. He'll be the father of?

[16:31] Okay. So Nahor is whose grandfather? Abraham's. Now, what do we know about Nahor and Terah and Abraham?

[16:43] Abraham's. There were no Israelites at this point. Right.

[16:54] They were Shemites. Where were they from? Ur of the Chaldees.

[17:06] So the... In the Fertile Crescent, it would have been in the north, eastern kind of region. So why didn't...

[17:20] Did they stay there? They left Ur.

[17:35] Why did they leave Ur? God told them to. Now, what do we know about the fathers on the other side of the water?

[17:52] They were idol worshipers. Now, somewhere along the line, though, God came to Abraham and said, Get you out of here.

[18:04] So, Terah, Abraham's father, and Abraham, and who else went with them?

[18:15] Well, Lot's not born yet. But you're getting there. Lot's dad.

[18:25] Do you remember his name? And I've dropped it right now.

[18:41] Haran. Okay. So, they leave, heading for Canaan.

[18:53] So, Terah now is the father of Abraham. God's going to talk to Abraham again.

[19:04] And what does he say? Time to leave the family. Now, I want you to go south. To where?

[19:14] Well, we know the name of the land. Hebrews tells us, the book of Hebrews, tells us that they knew not where they were going.

[19:29] They just trusted God. They were heading for Canaan. So, God specifically said, to a land I will show you.

[19:44] And what's God going to do for him there? He's going to bless him. Make him a nation of many peoples or many nations.

[20:00] How many children does he have? Now, we have a friend who has 17 children. And 130-some grandchildren.

[20:11] I don't know how many greats. Neither does he. He's an Amish. But, nevertheless, how many did Abraham have when God told him this?

[20:25] None. How old was he when his sons were born? He would have been 90, approximately.

[20:43] A little under 90, when Ishmael was born. How old was he when Isaac was born? 100 years old. How old was Sarah?

[20:57] 99. Wow. Who did that? That's God's doing. Okay.

[21:09] Because by this time, they're not living 900 years anymore. They're living old. A couple hundred years. But not 90, not 900 years.

[21:22] Okay. So, Abraham. Now we get into much more recent studies. Abraham begets whom? Isaac.

[21:35] Isaac. Now, why is Isaac in the lineage of Christ and not Ishmael? Did God...

[21:55] Okay. He was the right one according to God. What did God specifically say about that? He said it's going to be Sarah's son.

[22:08] Now, how does that fit in with what the Apostle Paul will tell us in Romans? It's not going to be the child of the bond woman, but of the free woman.

[22:23] He likens this. This becomes an analogy for what? Salvation? Salvation. Salvation. Through faith.

[22:33] Through faith. Faith alone. Because of God's grace. Faith alone. So, this is God's doing.

[22:46] He says, later on with Paul, he will say, you are not the offspring or the descended, if you will, of the bond, but of the free.

[23:01] And he equates Hagar, the bond woman, with what? She corresponds to what? The law.

[23:14] The law. And Sarah corresponds to grace.

[23:30] Okay. So, that becomes kind of important. Now, you know, anything else you want to bring up about Isaac? Where'd Isaac get his wife?

[23:45] Yes. Who went to get her? Did he go up there courting?

[24:00] His servant. Abraham's servant went up. And who'd he find? Rebecca.

[24:13] How did he find Rebecca? At the well. That's where he found her. Now, we're not recommending that you go to a bar to find your husband or your wife.

[24:27] No. But he found her at the well. What was the sign? This is the girl? Right.

[24:38] What was the sign? What was the sign? Right. But he did ask for a sign, didn't he? What was the sign? The woman that comes and offers to give me water.

[24:54] Well, she's a maiden. She's not a married woman, of course. But the maid that comes and offers to give me, draw me water and draw water for my camels, let this be the woman that God has chosen for my master.

[25:11] Well, did God do that? Does God give you signs? Don't answer that.

[25:21] Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

[25:32] Yeah. Yeah. Well, you know, that goes along with trials and tribulations in life, doesn't it? In the fact that, how many know what I'm saying when I tell you about the comic strip Andy Cap?

[25:55] You recognize that? Okay, so he's this Northern England guy that is kind of a ne'er-do-well, and he has his wife, his flow.

[26:08] So, years ago, this is one of the reasons that I liked that strip at one time. I forget what he had done, and she was berating him.

[26:23] And he said, why is it that when bad things happen to you, it's a trial? And when bad things happen to me, it's a judgment?

[26:33] Well, it's kind of like that with signs. You know, if I figure it must be the will of the Lord because it seems right to me, well, that's not safe, is it?

[26:49] That's not safe. I need to be careful. Nevertheless, in this case, God's leading Eleazar. He brings back Rebekah.

[27:01] So, Isaac and Rebekah, who's their son? Jacob, who's the oldest?

[27:16] Esau. Why isn't Esau in the line? Esau. Well, he traded his birthright, but that doesn't mean he's not in the line.

[27:30] Why isn't he in the line? Well, what else do we know about him quickly? He traded his birthright, and what else? He was deceived out of what?

[27:46] The blessing of his father. Okay. Now, who was in on the deception? It was Rebekah's idea, and who followed it through?

[28:02] Jacob. So, that doesn't sound right to me. Which one's in the line of Christ? Jacob. Jacob.

[28:14] What does the Scripture say? Because before they were born, I had chosen Jacob. Right.

[28:28] Right. Now, in Hebrews, we understand, we are told, why Esau did not please God.

[28:39] Why was it? Because he didn't have faith. He wasn't a man of faith. He, for a, and by the way, on a practical sense, when he came in from hunting, and he said, I'm starving to death, give me some soup.

[29:00] He traded his birthright for a bowl of soup. And the Scripture says he did not look. You know, he didn't judge the various weight of that.

[29:16] I would put it this way. He was far more concerned with his immediate gratification than with the long-term implications. I'm glad that never happens to me.

[29:32] I'm glad I'm never tempted that way. So, oh my goodness. So, we're going to have to, I'm going to have to roll.

[29:44] So, Jacob is chosen by God to be in the line. Who else? Who comes next? Judah.

[29:58] Who comes after Judah? Well, what, Judah is going to be one of the patriarchs. Okay, go ahead. Who comes after Judah?

[30:10] Perez. Okay, now, this is interesting. Who's his mother? No, not yet.

[30:28] Earlier. Tamar. Okay, what's the significance of Tamar? Tamar. She was Judah's daughter-in-law.

[30:40] Now, Lord, what do you have in mind here? I'm glad that the plan of God doesn't get upset because I make bad decisions, too.

[30:52] I'm thankful for that. Now, that does not excuse bad decisions. And there are consequences. Tamar is going to remain as though she's a widow.

[31:07] She's going to remain in Judah's house, but she will never again have relations. She'll have no more children. Okay. Okay. Now, after Perez, now we come what?

[31:20] He's the father of? Who is the father of? Who is the father of? Amenadab.

[31:31] Isn't it interesting how this was one big family Bible, wasn't it? Who is the father of? Nashon.

[31:42] Who is the father of? Salmon. Now, Salmon was one of the men who went into Jericho. He's going to enter the land of Canaan with Joshua.

[31:52] And not only that, what's going to happen interesting with Jericho? Because God said that the first fruit of Canaan, the city of Jericho, was going to be wholly devoted to destruction.

[32:10] Remember that? Is that what happened? Except, except for one family.

[32:22] Who was it? Rahab. Now, Rahab was an upstanding citizen.

[32:40] Rahab. Why was Rahab spared? She helped the spies. And she had something to say to them.

[32:52] She said, I know that God has given you the land. She acknowledged God.

[33:04] So, she let down the scarlet thread from her window. Everybody in her household was saved from destruction. If they weren't in the house, they were killed.

[33:19] Everybody else was killed in Jericho. Okay. So, Rahab goes with whom? Israel. Who does she marry?

[33:32] Salmon. And now, who's the next in line? I'm sorry? Boaz.

[33:43] So, Boaz lives where? He lives in Bethlehem. Hmm.

[33:56] We're honing in now, aren't we? Boaz lives in Bethlehem. And he marries who?

[34:09] Ruth. What's important about Ruth? Of? Of? Naomi. She's the daughter-in-law of Naomi, and she's from Bethlehem.

[34:24] No, she's a Moabitess. Now, who were the gods of the Moabitess? Who's the famous god of the Moabites?

[34:38] Chemosh. Chemosh was the one, was the idol that was a big furnace.

[34:52] And they burned babies. The grace of God moving even then. So, Ruth says, I'll not leave.

[35:06] This is used out of context, by the way, in a lot of weddings, isn't it? Your people will be my people. And your God is my God.

[35:20] Where you live, there will I live. Where you die, there will I die. So, because of that, she marries Boaz.

[35:36] Now, who's Boaz? Who's the offspring of Ruth and Boaz? I'm sorry?

[35:49] Obed. And who's his son? Jesse. And who's his son? David the king. Okay.

[36:00] Now, I'm going to have to close it up, but I'm going to run through a couple of more. Because it's important. Who's the next one after David? It's Solomon.

[36:19] Okay. Now, what do you know about Solomon? He's the son of whom? David and who's his mother?

[36:34] Bathsheba. This isn't. Now, God's not doing this like I would think he would do it, is he? Bathsheba is his mother.

[36:47] Now, Solomon started out great, didn't he? But he didn't end real well. Why? Why? Too many.

[36:57] He loved many strange women. I like the way the scripture puts it. Strange doesn't mean odd. Strange means foreign.

[37:10] Or they weren't God's people. Okay. So, God left the kingdom intact, but under his son, who is Solomon's son?

[37:31] Rehoboam. Under Rehoboam, what happens? The kingdom splits. Now, we have the ten northern tribes of Israel and the two southern tribes, Judah and Benjamin, called Judah.

[37:52] So, now we have two separate kingdoms. And I'm going to... As you read through that, they even...

[38:07] There's a period of 400 years of silence where they still recorded their genealogy. But there's 400 years between Malachi and Matthew.

[38:24] Or the Lord Jesus, actually. So, I just thought it would... It was interesting to me to go down through that genealogy because we had studied a number of those persons.

[38:40] And look how the plan of God is bringing us. And, in fact, we'll probably hear it sometime today or Thursday.

[38:58] If you do... If your family has these traditions of reading the... The story of the birth.

[39:13] The birth of Christ was in this fashion. Story. Why did Joseph and Mary go to Bethlehem? They had to go register.

[39:28] Why? David was their forefather. And Bethlehem is where David is from. That's his hometown.

[39:41] That's why Jesus is born in Bethlehem. The house of bread. Yes. Okay. Have a wonderful day. God bless you.

[39:52] And... How many are coming tonight? Good.

[40:04]  We'll see you tonight. We'll see you tonight.