A CLOSER LOOK AT SOME OF THE LISTED GENEALOGIES IN SCRIPTURE
Shabbat shalom family – and yes we are family! In Eph’siyim/Ephesians 2 Sha’ul reminds us that we who were once gentiles in the flesh and excluded from the citizenship of Yisra’ĕl and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no expectation and without Elohim, and were so far off have now been brought near by the Blood of Messiah, as He is our peace that has broken down the barrier making us one in Him. By His Blood we are family, aměn! יהושע said in Luqas/Luke 8:21 that His mother and brothers – that is His family – are those who are hearing the Word of Elohim and doing it. So we praise our Saviour and Redeemer that we are no longer strangers and foreigners in Yisra’ĕl, יהוה’s called out and chosen nation, but we are family – praise His name!!!
Now what I would simply like to do tonight is look at some of our family history, and by that I mean that I would like us to look at some of the lists of names that we see written on the pages of Scripture and see the great truths that not only do individual names carry, but how they also are collectively listed and designed to give us a reminder of the sure and promised hope we have in יהושע Messiah, our Kinsman Redeemer. In a message tonight called, ‘When Names get Exciting’, I want to show you how exciting some of the passages in Scripture; passages that are often overlooked and are in fact filled with the Besorah (Good News) of Messiah. In the past we have looked at the Besorah in Berěshith/Genesis 5 when we looked at the genealogy from Aḏam to Noaḥ, which we will not go back into tonight but in summary the listed names in that line carry the message:
MAN IS APPOINTED MORTAL SORROW, THE BLESSED ĚL SHALL COME DOWN TEACHING AND HIS DEATH SHALL BRING THE DESPAIRING COMFORT AND REST
Now carrying on from that we have also seem other lists of names in regards to the people appointed to praise in the Hěḵal, and tonight we will look at three other groups of names/genealogies that, when we see the collective meaning of the names as constructed into a sentence, will certainly further our excitement and love for the wonderful Truth of the Living Word. There are many lists and genealogical accounts recorded in Scripture and I firmly believe that each one has great relevance in enhancing and growing our knowledge and understanding of יהוה, our Mighty Elohim in whom we find our strength and in whom we trust, and tonight we will see in just 3 such accounts much greater meaning and insight, to what is often just skipped over as a list of seemingly boring and meaningless names. Let me remind you all – nothing is boring and meaningless in Scripture!!!
Ok, first up turn with me to Shemuʼěl Bět/2 Samuel 5:14-16 (Read)
This is the list of the 11 sons of Dawiḏ and so we will look at the meaning of each name and then see what message is clearly coming through in the Hebraic mind-set:
1 – שַׁמּוּעַ Shammua – Strong’s H8051 – meaning, ‘renowned, the one who heard’ and is from the root word שָׁמַע shama – Strong’s 8085 which means, ‘to hear, obey, listen closely’.
2 – שׁוֹבָב Shoḇaḇ – Strong’s H7727 meaning, ‘rebellious, backsliding or apostate or fallen’ and more simply, ‘sinners’ and comes from the word שׁוּב shub – Strong’s H7725 meaning, ‘to turn back’. So we can also get from this a picture of sinners who are turning back!
3 – נָתָן Nathan – Strong’s H5416 meaning, ‘giver or gift’.
4 – שְׁלֹמֹה Shelomoh – Strong’s H8010 meaning, ‘peace, his peace’ and comes from the word שָׁלֵם shalem – Strong’s H7999 which means, ‘to be complete or sound, to finish, fulfil’.
5 – יִבְחָר Yibḥar – Strong’s H2984 meaning, ‘he chooses or Yah chooses’
6 – אֱלִישׁוּעַ Elishua – Strong’s H474 meaning, ‘ĚL is Salvation’, coming from 2 words; אֵל el –Strong’s H410 meaning, ‘mighty, strong, power and short for Mighty One (Elohim)’ and יָשַׁע yasha – Strong’s H3467 meaning, ‘to deliver, save, salvation’.
7 – נֶפֶג Nepheg – Strong’s 5298 – ‘sprout, spring forth’.
8 – יָפִיעַ Yaphia – Strong’s 3309 – ‘shining, to shine out or forth, look favourably upon’.
9 – אֱלִישָׁמָע Elishama – Strong’s H476 – ‘ĚL has heard, my ĚL has heard’.
10 – אֶלְיָדָע Elyada – Strong’s H450 – ‘ĚL knows’, from אֵל el and יָדַע yada – Strong’s H3045 which means, ‘known or make known, teach’.
11 – אֱלִיפֶלֶט Eliphelet – Strong’s H467 meaning, ‘ĚL is Deliverance’, coming from אֵל el and פַּלֵּט pallet – Strong’s H6405 – ‘deliverance’.
Ok so there you have it – the 11 sons of Dawiḏ; and what we can see in this list of names is the following powerful message which can be seen in these names:
The Renowned One has heard the cry of repentance of the rebellious and has given the gift of the fullness of His peace; for He has chosen to let our Salvation spring forth and shine as He looks favourably upon us who call; for He has heard and He knows and has made known that He is our Deliverance!
Just as we have learnt in the past how the Besorah is in the genealogy from Aḏam to Noaḥ, so here we see that these 11 names are placed in specific order by the design of יהוה Himself, and I firmly believe that this is in no way a simple coincidence, for the Word is perfect, aměn!
Now I would like to jump to Ḥazon/Revelation 7 as we learn that the 144 000 of those who are sealed are made up of 12 000 from each of the 12 tribes of Yisra’ĕl. Now what is interesting is that we see the 12 tribes being mentioned on numerous occasions in Scripture, yet they are not always identical. Sometimes we see the exclusion of a tribe while another is expanded upon – yet there are always 12 tribes!
As we discover more and more that various lists of names that are found in Scripture are far from boring as they almost always have a wonderful and simple message if we will but just take time to discover the meanings of each original Hebrew name; and in every case we find that the message always points to יהושע Messiah; and here in Ḥazon/Revelation 7 it is no different as we look at the seemingly unusual order of the names of the 12 tribes – let us take a closer look at the order:
1 – יְהוּדָה Yehuḏah – Strong’s H3063 means, ‘praised’ coming from the word יָדָה yadah – Strong’s H3034 which means, ‘to cast or throw, shoot, give thanks, confess and praise’. A word often used for praise in expression of the extending of one’s hands in worship.
2 – רְאוּבֵן Re’uḇĕn – Strong’s H7205 – ‘behold a son’.
3 – גָּד Gad – Strong’s H1410 – ‘a troop, as in a group of soldiers or a collection of people’ as well as ‘fortune’. Gad can have both a positive and negative connotation to it as we also known that while Gad is the name of one of the sons of Ya’aqoḇ, it was also the name of a Kenaʽanite deity of ‘luck’ and was an ancient Mitsrian deity of the ‘sun’ tracing its roots back to Nimrod worship; however for this list we can understand it as being the troop or gathering of the people of Messiah as one during the tribulation!
4 – אָשֵׁר Asher – Strong’s H836 – ‘blessed or joyful one, granted good fortune’
5 – נַפְתָּלִי Naphtali – Strong’s H5321 – ‘my wrestling’
6 – מְנַשֶּׁה Menashsheh – Strong’s H4519 – ‘forgetting, cause to forget’.
7 – שִׁמְעוֹן Shim’on – Strong’s H8095 – ‘heard’.
8 – לֵוִי Levi – Strong’s H3878 – ‘joined to’.
9 – יִשָּׂשכָר Yissasḵar – Strong’s H3485 – ‘there is recompense’
10 – זְבוּלֻן Zeḇulun – Strong’s H2074 – ‘exalted, exalted abode, dwelling’
11 – יוֹסֵף Yosĕph – Strong’s H3130 – ‘he increases or Yah has added’.
12 – בִּנְיָמִין Binyamin – Strong’s H1144 – ‘son of my right hand’.
From the order of these names and their meanings we see a very crucial encouragement being declared:
Rejoice and praise Yah! For behold a Son! The troop of His people are blessed and joyful; for their wrestling and troubles He causes them to forget. Hear Him; and be joined to Him, in whom there is recompense; and exalt Him who is on high; for Yah increases by the Son of His right Hand!
This is most certainly a wonderful message and one that is certainly needed to encourage not only those in the days of Ya’aqoḇ’s trouble but also for us here right now; and is a message we are to be proclaiming as we, who are sealed in Him, must bring to the lost, blind and deaf!!!
Are you all still with me – I think that some of you never thought you would spend this amount of time looking at names, while I do hope to stir you up in realising that there is much to glean from the very names that יהוה has listed for us in His Word!
Now we can carry on to tackle a very long and large genealogy – the genealogy of יהושע Messiah as recorded in Mattithyahu/Matthew 1. Now I will of course be using the Hebrew names and definitions as they originally were written and called and not the Greek transliterations. There are 42 generations listed here and is a wonderful picture of the fulfilment that Messiah brings to the Covenant promise given to Aḇraham, and we also know that there were 42 stops in the Wilderness journeys of Yisra’ĕl from Mitsrayim to the promised Land. There is a wonderful flow of the covenant promises throughout this recorded genealogy of Messiah that continually points to our Saviour and is a wonderful start to the Renewed/Second Writings. Mattithyahu was tax collector and would have been well skilled and in keeping strict records, a very gifted skill that he used in recording the genealogy of our Saviour and list of our ancestors.
Here in Mattithyahu we see that the genealogy begins with Aḇraham and not as others do that start from Aḏam, and I believe that it is very fitting in that it shows how יהושע Messiah brings about the fulfilment of the Covenants of Promise to a chosen people that began with Aḇraham.
Before we go into the names I want to point out something of great importance for us in the difference between the names listed here in Mattithyahu/Matthew 1 and the list of names written in Luqas/Luke 3. In Luqas/Luke 3 we have, what for many seems to be the same, as they simply skip over the essential need to understand the names and while we will not be looking at the list in Luqas/Luke 3 tonight there is something we need to understand before moving on:
Luqas/Luke 3:23 “And when יהושע Himself began, He was about thirty years of age, being, as reckoned by law, son of Yosĕph, of Ěli.”
Notice that the Yosĕph listed here is the son of Ěli whereas the Yosĕph in Mattithyahu is of Ya’aqoḇ. This Yosĕph is Luqas/Luke 3 is the husband on Miryam and as the text clearly explains that יהושע was his son “as reckoned by law” as it certainly was not his blood father as we all know!!! The Yosĕph in Mattithyahu is not the husband of Miryam but is the father of Miryam. The Greek word ‘aner’ is used here which can mean husband but also a man, fellow, male and is often used to refer to a father! What is so powerful by these two lines is that we see how both his mother, Miryam and his father, as reckoned by law, was from the line of Dawiḏ! In the account on Mattithyahu/Matthew 1we see that the line to Yosĕph, the father of Miryam, after Dawiḏ carries on through Shelomoh, while in Luqas/Luke 3 we see that after Dawiḏ the line to Yosĕph, the husband carries on from Nathan.
I do hope that this clears up any confusion that you may have had in regards to the difference in the two lineages listed as it shows that both ‘earthly parents’ of Messiah come from the line of Dawiḏ.
Let us now get back to Mattithyahu/Matthew 1 and go through all the names and hear the powerful message contained within as we break it down:
1 – אַבְרָהָם Aḇraham – Strong’s H85 – ‘exalted father, father of a multitude’
2 – יִצְחָק Yitsḥaq – Strong’s H3327 – ‘he laughs, smiles’
3 – יַעֲקֹב Yaʽaqoḇ – Strong’s H3290 – ‘heel catcher, supplanter’, who also was also renamed and called Yisra’ĕl meaning, ‘strive, persevere with ĚL’. We need to recognise this as we see in the Hebraic min-set that when referring to Ya’aqoḇ they did not only see a ‘supplanter’ but they also saw a father who persevered with Elohim!
4 – יְהוּדָה Yehuḏah – Strong’s H3063 – ‘praised’ as discussed earlier.
5 – פֶּרֶץ Perets – Strong’s H6557 – ‘breach, break through or burst forth’
6 – חֶצְרוֹן Ḥetsron – Strong’s H2696 – ‘surrounded by a wall, enclosure’
7 – רָם Ram – Strong’s H7410 – ‘high, exalted, great height’
8 – עַמִּינָדָב Amminadaḇ – Strong’s H5992 – ‘my kinsman is noble’
9 – נַחְשׁוֹן Naḥshon – Strong’s H5177 – ‘enchanter, whisperer’, – while this name can certainly have a negative aspect to it as it certainly can remind us of the naḥash (serpent) in the Garden who deceived Ḥawwah, however it can also be rendered in this case to mean ‘prophet’ as Naḥshon’s sister was Aharon’s wife and he was also called ‘the leader of the people of Yehuḏah’ (Bemiḏbar/Numbers 2:3)
10 – שַׂלְמוֹן Salmon – Strong’s H8012 – ‘garment, clothes’
11 – בֹּעַז Boaz – Strong’s H1162 – ‘quickness, swiftness, fleetness’ and was a name of a pillar in the Hěḵal of Shelomoh signifying ‘strength’.
12 – עוֹבֵד Oḇed – Strong’s H5744 – ‘serving, servant, worshipper’
13 – יִשַׁי Yishai – Strong’s H3448 – ‘I possess’
14 – דָּוִד Dawiḏ – Strong’s H1732 – ‘beloved, beloved one’
15 – שְׁלֹמֹה Shelomoh – Strong’s H8010 – ‘peace, peaceful’
16 – רְחַבְעָם Reḥaḇ’am – Strong’s H7346 – ‘people are enlarged, extended to an open space’ a picture of setting free
17 – אֲבִיָּה Aḇiyah – Strong’s H29 – ‘29 –‘Yah is my father’
18 – אָסָא Asa – Strong’s H609 – ‘healer’
19 – יְהוֹשָׁפָט Yehoshaphat – Strong’s H3092 – ‘יהוה has judged’.
20 – יוֹרָם Yoram – Strong’s H3141 – ‘whom יהוה has exalted’.
21 – עֻזִּיָּה Uzziyah – Strong’s H5818 – ‘my strength is Yah’.
22 – יוֹתָם Yotham – Strong’s H3147 – ‘Yah is perfect’
23 – אָחָז Aḥaz – Strong’s H271 – ‘he has grasped, taken hold of, he possesses’
24 – חִזְקִיָּהוּ Ḥizqiyahu – Strong’s H2396 – ‘יהוה is my strength’
25 – מְנַשֶּׁה Menashsheh – Strong’s H4519 – ‘causing to forget, who makes me forget’
26 – אָמוֹן Amon – Strong’s H526 – ‘skilled workman, master architect, master builder’
27 – יאֹשִׁיָּהוּ Yoshiyahu – Strong’s H2977 – ‘whom יהוה heals’
28 – יְכָנְיָה Yeḵonyah – Strong’s H3204 – ‘יהוה establishes, upholds, appoints’
29 – שְׁאַלְתִּיאֵל She’alti’ěl – Strong’s H7597 – ‘I have asked of ĚL’
30 – זְרֻבָּבֶל Zerubbaḇel – Strong’s H2216 – ‘sown in Baḇel, begotten in Baḇelon’
31 – אֲבִיהוּד Aḇihuḏ – Strong’s H31 – ‘my father is majestic’
32 – אַבְנֵר Aḇner – Strong’s H74 – ‘my father is a lamp’
33 – אֶלְיָקִים Elyaqim – Strong’s H471 – ‘ĚL raises up’
34 – עַזֻּר Azzur – Strong’s H5809 – ‘help’
35 – צָדוֹק Tsaḏoq – Strong’s H6659 – ‘righteous, just, upright’
36 – יוֹקִים Yoqim – Strong’s H3137 – ‘Yah raises up’
37 –אֱלִיהוּד Elihuḏ – ‘my ĚL is praised’ from אֵל el and הוֹד hod – Strong’s H1935 –‘splendour, majesty, comeliness, beauty’.
38 – אֶלְעָזָר El‘azar – Strong’s H499 – ‘ĚL has helped, help of ĚL’.
39 – מַתָּן Mattan – Strong’s H4977 – ‘gift’
40 – 3 – יַעֲקֹב Yaʽaqoḇ – Strong’s H3290 – as discussed earlier, however I believe it is used in reference here to the whole nation of Yisra’ĕl being redeemed – and is the allotted inheritance of יהוה (Deḇarim/Deuteronomy 32:9)
41 – יוֹסֵף Yosĕph – Strong’s H3130 – ‘he increases or Yah has added’. (Father and not the husband of Miryam)
42 – יהושע – Yahushua – Strong’s H3091 – ‘יהוה is Salvation’.
There you have the account of the genealogy of Messiah in Mattithyahu and while there are varying ways to construct this as Hebrew certainly has a greater depth of meaning in the individual words, yet what we can summarise as a sure and promised message of hope that is fully met in our Redeeming king can be expressed in English as follows:
The exalted Father laughs at the enemy. The One who is praised breaks through a wall of great height – Our Kinsman Redeemer is noble, the prophet spoken of who is clothed with strength has come to serve. The Beloved One is the Prince of Peace who sets the people free and enlarges their territory. Our Father is יהוה, and He is the Healer who judges and He is the One who raises up and exalts. Our strength is in יהוה, who is perfect and has taken hold of His people for a possession. יהוה is our strength who causes us to forget our troubles and He is the Master Builder who heals us and establishes us. El was asked about the exiles sown in Baḇelon and has answered, for our Father is majestic and He is a lamp who raises up and helps; and in righteousness He raises up and He is greatly to be praised for He has helped in giving the gift of life to Ya’aqoḇ his allotted inheritance which he increases through our Saviour, יהושע Messiah!
When names get exciting! My hope tonight was to simply stir you and encourage you in seeing how our Father has continually declared His great plans for us – good plans to give us a sure hope and a future forever with Him as we walk daily in Messiah right here and now declaring the praises of Him who is with us – Immanu’ĕl!
The individual words of the Word appear carefully penned together, and brilliantly engineered, to give us a message that literally explodes with meaning, with joy, and with overwhelming proof that the prophecies and promises of יהוה are always being kept exactly as promised. This exciting message would certainly not have been lost to the first readers of the Besorah (Good News) and so as we embrace the life giving joy that His word gives us, may we be a people who do not lose this vital message that so many need to hear, but rather go out and proclaim the Besorah of
יהושע Messiah and never see any text of Scripture as boring!!!
Before we close I want to highlight just one more fascinating acrostic that lies almost hidden in Scripture, especially when it is not rendered in its Hebrew construction; and that is regarding the sign that was placed on the stake above Messiah when he was impaled:
Yoḥanan/John 19:19 “And Pilate wrote a title too, and put it on the stake, and it was written: יהושע OF NATSARETH, THE SOVEREIGN OF THE YEHUḎIM.”
This TITLE is a powerful message that the Yehuḏim will definitely have seen in the Hebrew and many of them were mad about it, let’s read on:
Yoḥanan/John 19:20-22 “Many of the Yehuḏim therefore read this title, for the place where יהושע was impaled was near the city, and it was written in Hebrew, in Greek, in Roman. 21 So the chief priests of the Yehuḏim said to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘The Sovereign of the Yehuḏim,’ but, ‘He said, “I am the Sovereign of the Yehuḏim.” ’ ” 22 Pilate answered, “What I have written, I have written.”
As we can see that it was written in Hebrew, Greek and in Roman and many of the Yehuḏim read this title as written in Hebrew of course, and told Pilate to change it – they didn’t want this title being displayed but rather they said to Pilate to change it to read that יהושע ‘said’ that He was what the title proclaimed. You see they did not want to recognise who they had just impaled and wanted to make יהושע look like a blasphemer by calling Himself by this title and Pilate refused to change it as he clearly said, “I have written what I have written” and so what was all the chaos over this title about – let us take a look at the acrostic of this in Hebrew:
Yahushua – of Natsareth – The King – Of the Yehudim:
Y’shua HaNatzaret v‘Melech HaYahudim
Do you what all the chaos was about – The fact that the Title above His head declared exactly who He is – YHWH!!!
יהושע is יהוה – and this angered the on looking Yehuḏim as they certainly did not want to be held responsible for nailing the True Messiah and Saviour to the stake.
I hope this stirs your excitement in looking at names that get exciting and the most exciting name of all –
יהושע – יהוה is our Saviour!!!
יהוה bless and guard you; יהוה make His face shine upon you and show favour to you; יהוה lift up His face upon you and give you shalom!!!
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