Seventh Day Baptist
Christian Education Council
PO BOX 1678
Janesville, WI 53547
—Hebrews 1:1-5; Matthew 1:1-6, 16-17
by: Linda Lawton.
In the first six verses of Matthew’s Gospel, four women other than Mary were included in the genealogy of Jesus—all of them foreigners, and most with spotted pasts. Tamar was a Canaanite and her sons were the result of a union with her father-in-law (read the story in Genesis 38). Rahab was the prostitute who saved the spies in Jericho. Ruth was a Moabitess, and Uriah’s wife was a Hittite whose son was fathered through an adulterous liaison with King David. Thus, these verses emphasize the fact that God’s redemptive plan includes Gentiles (us!), women, and sinners. What you have done or where you have come from does not disqualify you from being called to serve in God’s Kingdom!