Would you turn with me once again to the Gospel of Matthew, Matthew chapter 1, as we want to continue with our series of sermons on the genealogy, the history of Jesus Christ. And you remember that last time we looked at the first five verses, and we saw there how desperate it became for the Old Testament church, that their God was showing just how difficult it was becoming. and that the people began to think it was impossible. Even we began to understand that it became impossible. It would seem to be impossible that the Christ could ever be born in Bethlehem. And now I want to read with you the verses six through 11, as that same theme is going to continue as it becomes darker and darker in Israel. Matthew chapter one, verse six, we hear the word of God. And Jesse begat David the king. And David the king begat Solomon of her that had been the wife of Uriah. And Solomon begat Rehoboam. And Rehoboam begat Abiah. And Abiah begat Asa. And Asa begat Jehoshaphat. And Jehoshaphat begat Joram. And Joram begat Ozias. And Ozias begat Joathim. And Joathim begat Achaz. And Achaz begat Ezekias. And Ezekias begat Manassas begot Ammon, and Ammon begot Josias. And Josias begat Jeconias and his brethren about the time they were carried away to Babylon. Thus far, the reading of God's holy word. May he add his blessing to the hearing and the reading of the preaching of his word again this afternoon. Beloved congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ gathered here with me in Jordan this afternoon This afternoon, as we continue looking at the genealogy of Jesus, it is important for us to understand that the entire Gospel of Matthew itself is a chapter in a much larger book. So often I stress the importance of interpreting scripture in the context of the rest of the scripture, and that's so very necessary here. What I mean is that much of what Matthew means to say depends upon our knowing and understanding what has gone on before. It's the same with any other book. You cannot pick up a book and begin to read, for instance, let's say, chapter 27 and then expect to know what is going on. Nothing will make any sense to you. The same is true here. Matthew, so to speak, he sits down to write his gospel. And he's about to tell us of the incarnation of the Son of God. And he begins by giving us simply a list of names. And it's a list of names of people who, for the most part, we are not even familiar with. And yet, as we saw last time when we were together, when we examined these names in the context of biblical history, then suddenly these people jumped out at us, as it were, and revealed to us not only centuries of redemptive history, but above all, together, they told us the story of God's sovereignty over that history. Once we came to know those names, we discovered two very important truths. We saw in those names that not only that God made alive that which was dead, but we saw also that God kept and preserved that new life despite the efforts of Satan to destroy it. A marvelous picture of historical, covenantal, redemptive history was given us the last time. And all of it was told us in nothing more than a list of names. But in order for us to appreciate it, in order for us to understand it, we had to know some of the content. And that's so typical of Matthew's writing style. Matthew often writes in such a way that he assumes that the context was well known to his readers. Oftentimes in his writing, Matthew leaves out certain things. He leaves certain things unsaid, or he simply alludes to certain things rather than mentioning them explicitly because he assumes that his readers know the rest of the story. and so too for us this afternoon. We are expected to know the context and then we need to gather up the pieces and reassemble them in order to fully appreciate Matthew's historical account. If we know the context, we will be astounded We are astounded and blessed by what we read in the genealogy of our text. If not, we will discover nothing but a list of names, a list which then remains meaningless for us. Follow with me as I illustrate the point. In the genealogy that opens Matthew's gospel, Matthew gives us these names, but he does not tell us why. That's left for us to discover. Matthew also includes the names of four women in his genealogy. And that too is unusual. Matthew includes these four women, and that's unusual since women were always counted with, but not independent of the men who had authority over them. And again, we're not told why Matthew counts these women, and he leaves it for us to discover the significance of these women. Luke, in his genealogy of the Lord, gives us only fathers, no mothers. Also, Matthew's genealogy, when compared to Luke's, is obviously a non-exhaustive selection. But again, he doesn't explain why that is so. And that is left up for the reader to discover, that powerful but subtle points that Matthew makes in the way he introduces the gospel. Matthew requires that we ourselves will know or will discover why some information was given and what other things were omitted. Let me illustrate it a little further. Although we refer to Matthew's letter as the history of the gospel according to Jesus Christ, meaning then that Matthew intends to record for us the life and the ministry of Christ, he does not get to the beginning of the Lord's public ministry until chapter 4, verse 17, where we read, from that time on, Jesus began to preach, repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near. Up to that point, meaning that up to chapter 4, Matthew is simply introducing the person whose ministry and teaching he is going to describe in the gospel. So then, if we put all that information together, then it is clear that this genealogy is part of Matthew's introduction of the person of Jesus Christ. And that is now how we must examine our text of this afternoon. In the opening six verses, we saw how God marvelously and even miraculously preserved the family tree from the onslaught of Satan for centuries in order that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem. And now in our text of this afternoon, Matthew continues to define not only the preserved family tree, but also the reason for his coming. I want to administer God's word to you this afternoon using as my theme, the church in the crucible. We will learn of the fact of the church in the crucible. We then want to consider the reason for the church being in the crucible. And finally, we want to see the hope of the church despite being in the crucible. And my dear people of God, I chose this title for my sermon with careful thought and intent. But for the benefit of some among us, it may be a benefit if I explain what I meant when I entitled my sermon as I did. The word crucible, in the literal meaning of the word, is a heat-resistant container used to melt metals. It was used to separate, for instance, gold from the impurities of the ore in which the gold is found. We could also use the word refiner's fire to describe a crucible. A metallurgist would pour the iron ore into the crucible, which he would then heat to extreme temperatures, which would separate the impurities from the metal. The impurities would rise to the surface, and he would skim them off the top until he could see his face in the remaining liquid. And when all the impurities were burned off by that intense heat, then the steaming liquid would be cooled, and what was then left would be pure gold. That's the literal sense of the word crucible. But I used it in the figurative sense. The word crucible is often used figuratively to describe a severe test or a trial. or an extremely challenging experience. And it was in that sense that I chose the word in my sermon title. During these 14 generations, the church will be driven into the refiner's fire, into the crucible. She will be sorely tested and refined. So congregation, we are dealing with the book of the Bible called the Gospel of Matthew. And Matthew's purpose, as I just said, is to introduce us to the Christ, who stands at the center of the gospel. And Matthew sets before us, first of all, Christ's history and his origin. He does that in the first two chapters. And then in chapters 3 and 4, he gives us an account of Christ's preparation for his ministry. And then the rest of his gospel contains Christ's ministry. The rest of the Gospel of Matthew gives us Christ's life, his work, his death, and his resurrection. And in all of this material, Matthew makes it very clear that Jesus is the one, Jesus and the one, in whom the hopes, the prophecies, and the promises of the Old Testament find their fulfillment. And it is now with those things in our mind that we can look at the genealogy itself. It may seem to us to be a somewhat tedious way to begin a great book. However, in the Jewish world, genealogies were much more important than they are to us today. And in the way Matthew constructs this genealogy, he indicates what he is intending to say by it. First of all, as we saw last time, the coming of Jesus Christ is the event towards all previous history pointed. The genealogy places Jesus's name in the line of the history of God's people and the history of salvation. All the great names of the covenant are there. And from them, we can reproduce the history of Israel from the beginning to the end. One famous name succeeds another. Abraham to Isaac to Jacob to David and the other kings of Judah and Jesus Christ is at the end of that line. The great history of salvation, the history of God's covenant with his people culminates in Jesus. The promise that God made to Abraham, the promise that he made to David, now comes to fruition in the life and the work of Jesus of Nazareth. You can imagine then that for an Old Testament Jew who had the longing for the Messiah in his bones, this genealogy is heady stuff. It is powerful stuff for a God-fearing Jew. Remember with me now that the first period of 14 generations, as we saw earlier, was marked by the fact that God's people were led into slavery in Egypt and then marvelously brought home again. And as we examined those generations, we saw that it was a period where the church was almost completely wiped out by Satan. The church was reduced to just eight souls during the time of Noah. And it was, again, almost wiped out in the famine in the time of Jacob. But each time, just when it appears, just when it appears that the church would die and go under, God preserves our remnant. And through them, God preserves his church. We saw last time how Jacob and his family arrived in carts sent by Joseph to retrieve them in Goshen, and yet despite the oppression of Egypt, God blessed them and they grew into a powerful, numerous, and wealthy people. Jacob came up with just his sons and their families. But when God transplants that family tree back into Canaan, they left Egypt with 600,000 men, plus their women, their children, and all their flocks, their herds, and great material wealth. And so then it would be correct to say that that first period of 14 generations, the ones we have just considered, is characterized by declension and ascension. The church goes through ups and downs. During those 14 generations, the church goes through adversity and prosperity. But as we will now see, it was not so for the next period of 14 generations. Oh, no. This next period is a period of constant and only declension. This period was a time when, humanly speaking, the cause of God hung by a thread. For when our text concludes what this is about the time of God's people were carried away to Babylon, what it means is that the entire period, the entire period of 14 generations leading up to the Babylonian captivity was a time of declension and spiritual apostasy. Look at some of the history with me. Oh, it all started out so wonderfully. How beautifully God's promise had been fulfilled during the time of David and Solomon. That period was probably the most blessed and joyful period in all of the Old Testament dispensation. We would even say that David and Solomon, they reflected the Christ who would be born from their loins. Each of these two men represented one aspect of the reign of Christ. David was the man of the sword, fighting the Lord's battles and defending his cause. And although it is true that during his reign, heathens raged and rulers set themselves and took counsel against the Lord's anointed, nevertheless, David defended God's honor and experienced God's blessing. And he and his nation were blessed by God and they prospered. That was the time of David. And in Solomon, we see the other aspect of Christ, if you will, and that's of peace and victory. Under Solomon, it was a time of great peace. The battle is done. The victory has been won. The land of Canaan has reached its promised borders. Peace and prosperity reigned in the land. And every man tended his own vine and sat under his own fig tree. And on the throne of David sat a man who reigned as a prince of peace, if you will. That was the time of Solomon. And that's where our text begins. And the end of it all comes in verse 11. And Josiah begot Jeconiah and his brothers about the time they were carried out to Babylon. My dear people of God, capture this with me now for the context is so important. This period of 14 generations of our text, beginning with David and Solomon and ending with Josiah and Jeconiah, was a period with a glorious beginning but a devastating end. From peace and prosperity to captivity and bondage. And what we now need to understand is that it was a period of constant decline for the church. It was not so that all went well for so many centuries and suddenly, without warning, they were taken captive by Babylon and that that 70 years of captivity was only a brief interlude in what was otherwise a prosperous, happy life for the Old Testament church. Oh, no. It was a time of constant conflict. It was a time of persistent war. And it was a time of continual instability and ultimately culminating in the Babylonian captivity. And Peter, as I said to my introduction, Matthew assumes that we know the biblical history. And as we saw last time, it is only when we are acquainted with our Bibles that all these names of these 14 generations will mean anything at all to us. Follow with me. Our text closes with Josiah and his son, Jeconiah. Jeconiah is given us because he stood in the generations of the family tree of Jesus. But there is more history there in the name of Josiah. Josiah had more children, whose history is also significant in the context of redemptive history. You see, when Josiah died as king of Judah, the people placed Jehoahaz, Josiah's youngest son, on the father's throne. He was only 23, and he reigned only a short time. But his reign was evil, and he was soon deposed. But my dear people of God, he was deposed, but he was deposed by, of all people, by Pharaoh Necho, king of Egypt. And so what that tells us, that at that time in history, the time just prior to the captivity, Judah was under siege again by Egypt. Imagine that. Imagine that. After their glorious exodus that we discovered last time, after their glorious exodus once again, Egypt lords it over God's people. Jehovah has us carried off in chains by Egypt. And it was the king of Egypt who strips Jehovah out of his throne and gives it to Jehoiachin. Jehovah has his brother. And you know, of course, that most of Scripture, in most of Scripture, Egypt has given us as being synonymous with the world, the pagan world. And so at the time, just prior to the Babylonian captivity, Egypt, or if you will, the world was again in control of the family tree of Jesus Christ. Satan was having his way and he was well on his way to victory. But if that wasn't bad enough, after Egypt, Babylon rises to power under the reign of Nebuchadnezzar. And Jehoiachin was overcome by Nebuchadnezzar's military power. That was the first captivity of Babylon. It was the time of Daniel and his three friends. And we read that thousands of God's people were carried off into Babylon. Jerusalem itself was spared, but all of the sacred objects of worship were stripped from the temple, and the palace is sacked. Nebuchadnezzar makes Mathaniah, another son of Josiah, king of Judah, and changes his name to Zedekiah. And Zedekiah decides to rebel against Nebuchadnezzar. And my dear people of God, humanly speaking, Even from a spiritual standpoint, that makes sense to us. It would seem right to us. that Israel would resist Babylon. It seems right to us that the church would resist the world. But, but, but, Zedekiah had been warned by Jeremiah, or if you will, Zedekiah had been warned by God to settle into the line in time of bondage. Zedekiah had been warned by God to accept those 70 years of bondage as deserved chastisement for Israel's idolatry. And he was to wait upon the Lord But he would not listen. He wages war. But because of his failure to listen to the Lord, the Lord does not fight with him. But the Lord fights against him. And the Lord fights with his enemy against Israel. Now Nebuchadnezzar's war machine returns. And now he lays Jerusalem, the temple, and the palace to waste. Now Nebuchadnezzar knows no mercy. He shows no mercy. No more half measures. Now God's city is ruined. God's house is ransacked. And God's people are taken captive. That's the meaning of the expression of our text. They were carried away to Babylon. So what does it all mean? What must we read into all of this? What is it that Matthew assumes we know and therefore must understand from this history? Well, where is the church in that time in history? It's not a prosperous time for her. No, the world lords it over the church. Understand this with me. All of this devastating history of the church points out to us that once again, once again, the promises of God, according to all human appearances, has been defeated. It would appear that Satan has been victorious. The scepter had departed from Israel. The glory of the Lord had departed from Israel. Ichabod was written large over the door of the church, for the glory of the Lord was gone. God's glory had been taken from the church. The Messiah was supposed to come from within her, but what now? Oh, it all appeared so hopeless. Listen to how the psalmist described it in Psalm 89. But you, God, you have cast off and you have abhorred. You, God, you have been furious with your anointed. You have renounced the covenant of your servant. You, God, have profaned his crown by casting it to the ground. You, God, have broken down all his hedges. You have brought his strongholds to ruin, and all who pass by the way plunder him. He is a reproach to his neighbors. People have got the psalmist explaining that God has given Israel God has given Israel, no, to make it more clear, God has given the church over to the enemy. You, God, have exalted the right hand of Israel's adversaries. You, God, have made all Israel's enemies to rejoice. You have also turned back the edge of the sword and have not sustained him. Israel in the battle. You have made Israel's glory cease. You have cast his throne down to the ground. The days of his youth you have shortened. You have covered Israel with shame. The church had been devastated. The cause of God's covenant seems to have been completely destroyed. From a human perspective, there was no hope left. God had abandoned his people. God had forgotten his promise to them. And that's the picture that Matthew paints in these words. And they were carried away to Babylon. Let's take a moment now and sing from Psalter number 217. Number 217, and we'll sing all of the stanzas. So people of God, physically and materially and spiritually, for Israel, for the church, the night became ever darker. It just kept getting worse until finally they were convinced that God had forgotten them. and that God had abandoned his promises to them. And that's the picture that Matthew paints in his words when he said, and they were carried away into Babylon. But why was that now? Why was it now that the glory of Judah had ceased? Why was it that the coming of the Messiah was being made ever more doubtful? It looked like it never could come. How could the Messiah come out of what was left there? There was nothing left. Well, as we saw last time, God would not have man sharing his glory. God would demonstrate that what was impossible with man was possible with God. And so God was making it impossible so that his glory would be all the more glorious. God was using the sin of his people. God was using the sin of his people to glorify himself. God was making it impossible to demonstrate that what was impossible with man was still possible with God, and so God was making it impossible so that His glory would be all the more glorious when in the fullness of time He fulfilled the promise in Bethlehem despite these odds. God would take the well-being of the Church out of man's hands, and God would demonstrate His sovereignty for His own glory. That first and foremost, but there's more. As we saw last time, the family tree itself was corrupt, making it possible for Satan to make such great inroads into the church and to wreak havoc. And that, too, is given us in our text. Follow with me. First of all, when we read of the list of names in our text, we read of all the fathers of Christ, but also one mother, and that would be Bathsheba, David's wife, Solomon's mother, the wife of Uriah the Hittite. But you know the story. She had been the wife of a Hittite, but in all likelihood, in all likelihood, she's also an adulteress. Oh, we do not read, we do not read that David took her and raped her against her will. Neither do we read that she protested afterwards. Not only was David guilty, but scripture at least seems to suggest that Bathsheba was complicit in his crime of adultery and murder. But there are more women given us in this entire genealogy. And when we carefully examine them and when we then remember Matthew's purpose of demonstrating the hopeless condition of the church immediately prior to the incarnation, then we begin to understand why Matthew included them. Follow me. There is Tamar, a Canaanite woman and also an adulteress. Then we have Rahab, also was from Canaan, and she was, in fact, a harlot. Then we find Ruth, who, as you know, was from the pagan land of Moab. She was a Moabitess. Ruth, of course, was not an adulteress, but she was from Moab. She was a descendant of that incestuous relationship of Lot and his own daughter. So what we have so far in the family tree of Jesus is Canaanites, Moabites, adulterers, murderers, all entering into the family tree of Christ. So what we have here is an indication that the line that would produce the Messiah, it was far from pure, for all these women were mothers of Christ. They were part of the family tree of the Messiah. But there's still more. It is true that these are the only names of women mentioned in our text, but it is striking that normally, Women's names were seldom mentioned. But when we examine the kings of Judah, we are always given the name of their mothers. And now that again ties into our text. For you see, the mother of Rehoboam was Naamah, and she was an Ammonite, and therefore a descendant of the other daughter of Lot. The mother of Abijah was Makkah, and she was the granddaughter of Absalom, and she was from Syrian descent. And so now we have Canaanites, we have Moabites, we have Ammonites, we have Hittites, we have Syrians, adulterers and murderers, all making up the family tree of Christ. Nothing to be proud of then, was there? Does it surprise you that the luster would be gone from the church? But the climax comes when Jehoram of our text marries Etheliah, the daughter of Jezebel. Jezebel was a heathen. She was a heathen Sidonian woman. Jezebel was wicked through and through. She was ungodly and an idolater. And so was her daughter, whom Jehoram, king of Judah, king of God's people, took as his wife. Imagine that. And then the king and his wicked queen produced a son named Ahaziah. And that's the end of the family tree of the Messiah, as far as man is concerned. You know the story, perhaps. Ahaziah becomes king after his father. But when he is killed, his mother seizes the opportunity. She kills all of the royal seed and takes the throne for herself. And had it not been for Ahaziah's sister who hid baby Joash in the temple, that would have been the end of the line of Christ. See with me how instrumental these women in our text were in destroying the family tree of our Lord. Satan had such willing workers among the women in the church. But my dear people of God, it was not only the women that made it impossible for the Christ to be born. If we look at the history of the men who stood in the covenant line, we see the same corruption. The men also, rather than being stalwarts and defenders of the Lord's cause, they were not God-fearing. Some were, but the rest were not. David was a man after God's own heart, but you know the story, adultery and murder. Solomon began as a type of Christ, but he apostatized and introduced idol worship into the covenant line. Rehoboam gave occasion for the ten tribes to separate themselves from the house of David, leaving him with only Judah. We read that Asa was God-fearing, and yet he enters into a covenant with pagan Syria. Jehoshaphat was God-fearing but weak. Jehoram was wicked through and through, killing all of his own brothers. Uzziah started well, worshiping and serving God, but his prosperity went to his head, not thanking the Lord, but himself. And when he finally took upon himself the office of priest, God struck him with leprosy. Ahaz was not much better, and although there's some improvement in Hezekiah, but with him again, the family tree almost died out. When the prophet comes to tell him that he will die, Hezekiah prays for life and God grants him time. You know the story. But why did God grant him time? Because of his prayer, as some suggest? Oh, no. Oh, no. God answered his prayer not because of Hezekiah's prayer, not that God changed his mind because of Hezekiah's prayer. No, no. God grants him life, God grants him time, because Hezekiah has no son. And had he died, the Messiah could not have come as prophesied, and the Messianic line would have died. And so God, in accordance with his own eternal decree, grants to him life, 15 years, so that the covenant line could continue. And Hezekiah fathers a son, Manasseh, who too was a very ungodly man until he repents and is converted during the captivity. Manasseh then begot Amon, but Amon walked in the wicked ways of his father until he was killed by his servants in his own house. A little reformation again takes place under Josiah, but that too is only outward and does not last. Further and further and further, God's people declined until at last we read, and they were taken away into Babylon. Does that still surprise you? My dear people of God, there is nothing to be proud of when we read of the history of Jesus' family. If we look at the list of women involved, and then remember that Christ must be born as the sinless one, we say, impossible. And if we then look at the list of fathers' names and remember that the Christ is to be was in the loins of these men, we say, impossible. A corrupt stock brings forth a corrupt seed. And when we then look at the history, we say, impossible. We see a rebellion culminating in a split between Israel and Judah. We see the destruction of the seed under the reign and terror of Athaliah. Only one little baby is left, and that only because he was kept hidden. And all of these people, male and female, made up the family of Jesus, so that it is correct to say that Satan worked effectively in and through the church to prevent the coming of the Messiah. Papa, but my dear people of God, Not all of the members of the church were wicked, no. There were still numbers of faithful, pious, godly men and women in Palestine who looked for the coming of the kingdom. Oh, they were a remnant to be sure, but they prayed and they waited for the consolation of Israel. Indeed, they saw it impossible all around them. But, but, but, they had heard God promise, and they believed, and they clung to that promise of God, trusting that he who had promised was faithful and would do it. Think with me of Isaiah, a voice crying in the wilderness. Think with me of Jeremiah, pointing to the coming captivity but promising deliverance. The faithful remnant pointed out the coming captivity. They pointed out the coming impossible time. But, but, but, they also pointed to heaven, and they said, listen, listen, listen, do you hear it? God is saying, do you hear it? Do you hear it? Comfort ye, comfort ye, my people. Speak ye comfortably to my people. Tell her that her warfare now is over, that her sins I hold in cover. And the Old Testament saints believed, and they clung to that promise, and it was fulfilled in Bethlehem. May we stand in even greater awe as we have seen what they have only hoped for. Shall we pray? Lord, once again, we have listened to you speak to us. And Father, as we listened, when we listened carefully, we saw the sins of the fathers in our own lives. And we too, we are so often negligent in spiritual matters. So often, too, we want to serve you as we see fit. And Lord, and often we're reminded again, we're again reminded of the consequence of serving ourselves rather than the Lord. But Lord, by thy spirit and in thy grace, thou hast rescued us from the kingdom of darkness. Thou hast translated us into the kingdom of thy son, the kingdom of light, the kingdom of thy son, in whom we have not may one day receive, but in whom we have redemption and forgiveness of sin. And so now we are able to cry out with the scriptures, come Comfort you, my people. Speak ye peace, thus saith our God. Comfort those who sit in darkness, mourning neath their sorrow's load. Speak you to Jerusalem of the peace that waits for them. Tell her that her sins I cover, and her warfare now is over. For the herald's voice is crying in the desert, far and near, bidding all men to repentance, since the kingdom now is here. Oh, that warning cry obey. Now prepare for God a way. Let the valleys rise to meet him and the hills bow down to greet him. Amen.