“Thus there were fourteen generations in all from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the exile to Babylon, and fourteen from the exile to the Messiah.” Matthew 1:17 NIV
When I see that we are about to read a genealogy, if I’m being honest, I’m not typically excited. But after reading this chapter and thinking about this, the fact that the genealogy of Christ has been documented all the way back to Abraham is very impressive. With all the information passed down to me, along with the technology that we have today, there is no way that I could go back 42 generations.
“Joseph, her fiancé, was a good man and did not want to disgrace her publicly, so he decided to break the engagement quietly. As he considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. ‘Joseph, son of David,’ the angel said, ‘do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. For the child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit. And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.’” Matthew 1:19-21 NLT
There is only one reason to explain why Joseph proceeded to marry his pregnant fiancé Mary – the Holy Spirit. There is only one reason to explain how a genealogy of 42 generations could have been recorded without (or even with) technology like we have today – the Holy Spirit.
The exciting news is that when we become a child of God, we too receive the same Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit that spoke to Joseph in his dream, telling him to marry Mary, will also speak to and guide us. The Holy Spirit that allowed wisdom in order to maintain a genealogy of 42 generations, will also provide wisdom to us.
May we be encouraged today, knowing that the Holy Spirit is alive and desires to communicate with us, even to this day.
Lock Your Wings 
That same verse stood out for me: “All those listed above include fourteen generations from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the Babylonian exile, and fourteen from the Babylonian exile to the Messiah.”
Matthew 1:17 NLT
I like connections and reading through the stories we see how God’s hand was in all these family lines EVEN through unloved and not favoured wives (Leah the mother of Judah), through a widow (if Ruth’s husband wouldn’t have died she would have never married Boaz, through adultery (David & Bathsheba) even through suspected premarital relation (Joseph and Mary) God took impossible situations and worked it out to his purpose.
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