Genealogy of Jesus Christ, Part 2

Because Blogger only allows twenty labels per post, and all the names of Jesus's ancestors are important to note, I have divided this subject into three posts.  The genealogy began in the below linked post:

Genealogy of Jesus Christ, Part 1

Continuing the list of ancestors:

(Matthew 1:6) And Jesse begat David the king; and David the king begat Solomon of her who had been the wife of Uriah.

David was the youngest of Jesse's sons, despised by his brothers, yet God chose him and anointed him to be king, and set him on the throne of Israel, which was symbolic of the coming king Messiah.  Other kings are named in this genealogy, but only David is noted as "the king", because to him was given the promise of the kingdom of the Messiah, Who was said to inherit the throne of His father David (Luke 1:32).  David had taken Bathsheba, the wife of another man, Uriah, and committed adultery with her.  The child from that first encounter died, but Bathsheba, as later David's wife, bore Solomon.

(7) And Solomon begat Rehoboam, and Rehoboam begat Abijah, and Abijah begat Asa.

Solomon's son Rehoboam succeeded him as king; then Rehoboam's son Abijah ruled; and Abijah's son was King Asa.  Matthew Henry, in his Commentary on the Whole Bible, pointed out there was quite a mixture of good and bad in the succession of these kings; wicked Rehoboam begat wicked Abijah, and wicked Abijah begat good Asa, and the good and bad continued down the line.  Henry noted, "Grace does not run in the blood, neither does reigning sin. God's grace is his own, and he gives or withholds it as he pleases."

(8) And Asa begat Jehoshaphat; and Jehoshaphat begat Jehoram; and Jehoram begat Uzziah.

Good king Asa begat good Jehoshaphat, and Jehoshaphat begat wicked Jehoram.  Then there were actually three names left out of the succession--Ahaziah, Joash, and Amaziah.  As with many instances in scripture, Jehoram said to beget Uzziah simply means Uzziah descended directly from Jehoram, which is all that is necessary to prove the lineage of David to the Messiah.  The commentators I study offer different explanations of this.  One plausible explanation is that they had been purposely omitted from the Jewish registers because of the curse denounced on Ahab's family, into which Jehoram married, whose idolatry was punished to the third or fourth generation.  Their omission doesn't change the fact that Uzziah was a direct descendant of Jehoram.

(9) And Uzziah begat Jotham; and Jotham begat Ahaz; and Ahaz begat Hezekiah.

From Uzziah came Jotham, and Jotham begat Ahaz, to whom was given a great prophecy of the coming Messiah, “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel" (Isaiah 7:14).  The son of Ahaz was Hezekiah.

(10) And Hezekiah begat Manasseh, and Manasseh begat Amon, and Amon begat Josiah.

Manasseh, a wicked king, was the son of Hezekiah, and his son was Amon, very wicked, as well.  Amon's son was Josiah, a pious king who had been prophesied of by name hundreds of years before his birth (1 Kings 13:2).

(11) And Josiah begat Jeconiah and his brothers about the time they were carried away to Babylon.

Jeconiah was actually the grandson of Josiah, his father being Josiah's son Jehoiakim.  His brothers were actually his uncles, sons of Josiah.  As often the case in scripture, because they all directly descended from Josiah, they are called sons.  The Babylonian captivity occurred during the lifetime of Jeconiah and his uncles.

Again because Blogger limits the number of labels per post, I will continue in the next post:

Part 3 of Genealogy of Jesus Christ, and His Birth