I haven't been reading the Bible much lately...I've been through a hard time spiritually. I felt like reading the Word the other day and, not knowing what to read, opened the New Testament at the very beginning. Matthew starts with the genealogy of Christ so naturally I thought I was in for a lifeless/boring read. Thankfully the Lord knows all things and I was touched; my heart was softened a little bit more.
The verse that touched me was Matthew 1:5 "And Salmon begot Boaz of Rahab, and Boaz begot Obed of Ruth, and Obed begot Jesse,". What touched me was this (from the footnote in my Bible): Rahab was a prostitute who turned to God! I never knew that the Lord had allowed such people to be in His genealogy! It didn't matter that she had been a sinful woman; it mattered that she had turned to God! Thank you Lord for your loving forgiveness!
Keep reading! The worst as well as the best are in that geanology. Read up on what some of those kings got up to:Joram, who allowed his wife Athaliah to murder the males of the royal family & whose reign was marked by a restoration of the worship of Baal & revolts by Edom & Libya; Ahaz, whose licentiousness & wickedness squandered the kingdom built by his father & grandfather & brought Israel into subjection to Assyria; He burnt his own sons to Molech & plundered the temple & his own palace before closing the temple completely. The people buried him in a commoner’s grave as not being fit to be buried with the kings of Israel; Amon, whose reign was marked by moral depravity & idolatry & who was assassinated by his own servants. Yep ~ a little digging turns up all sorts of dirt. It always gives me such hope. While we were yet sinners...☺
ReplyDeleteWhat a marvelous hope we have :-)
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