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THE NORTHERN KENTUCKY SEARCHER VOLUME 5, NUMBER 8, FEBRUARY 27, 2005 READ The following article is from Focus Magazine, and was written by David Holder. Recently in our High School Bible class the students wanted to learn more about studying the Bible on their own. To make a point, I referred them to the three most important considerations in buying and selling real estate – location, location, location. I applied this idea to Bible study. The three most important practices for effective Bible study are read, read, read. Nothing substitutes for carefully, thoughtfully reading the word of God. Through the Holy Spirit, God oversaw the production of the Scriptures so that they form a God-inspired, God-empowered word (2 Tim. 3:16 , 1 Cor. 2:9-12). These words are spirit and life (John 6:63). They are living and active, piercing and discerning (Heb. 4:12 ). They should be received not as the words of mere men, but for what they are – the word of God that performs its work in those who believe (1 Thess. 2:13 ). But for the Word to do its work, we must read, read, read. Think about it. Moses commanded the people of Israel, “At the end of every seven years …you shall read this law in front of all Israel in their hearing. Assemble the people, the men and the women and children and the alien who is in your town, so that they may hear and learn and fear the Lord your God, and be careful to observe all the words of this law” (Deut. 31:11-12). And under Joshua’s leadership, the nation did just that (Josh. 8:34 -35). When Judah ’s King Josiah led reforms throughout the nation, he had heard Shaphan the scribe read from the book of the law that had been found in the house of the Lord. In what must have been an incredible scene, Josiah gathered all the people of Judah to Jerusalem “and he read in their hearing all the words of the book of the covenant which was found in the house of the Lord” (2 Chron. 34:29-30). Once Ezra and Nehemiah had led the remnant of God’s people in rebuilding projects, people gathered in front of the Water Gate in Jerusalem . Ezra brought the book of the law of Moses before the crowd, stood on the wooden podium erected for the occasion, opened the book and read to the people from early morning until midday (Neh. 8:1-8). We won’t learn all we need to know in Bible classes. We’ll never hear all the wonderful details of Scripture in sermons. Commentaries, computer programs, and publications can support and supplement our study, but nothing can substitute for taking the Bible in hand to read with our own eyes and hearts. Get out your copy of the Scriptures today and read, read, read. David Holder THE GENEALOGIES In the Adult Wednesday Night Bible Class, we had occasion to mention one of the genealogies of Christ found in the Gospels. We considered a verse from Matthew’s rendering of the Lord’s genealogy. Luke also presents one. I thought that a few comments about them might prove to be helpful. Matthew’s genealogy, found in Matt. 1:1-17, is the shorter of the two. It goes from Abraham forward 42 generations ending with “Joseph, the husband of Mary, of which was born Jesus, who is called Christ.” It is divided into 3 groups of 14 each, the first being from Abraham to David, the second from David to the Babylonian Captivity, and the third being from the Captivity to Jesus. What was Matthew attempting to accomplish? Not only is he demonstrating the connection of Jesus to David, he is also supplying an abbreviated history lesson. He traces the origin of the house of David from Abraham to David. He shows it rise to power and its decay from David to the Captivity, and he shows how it has risen again as promised from the Captivity to Jesus. There is a definite historical movement to Matthew’s genealogy that demonstrates a twofold purpose. He was connecting the ancestry of Jesus to David and he was tracing the rise, fall, and rise again of the house of David. Luke’s genealogy, found in Luke 3:23-28, is different from Matthew’s. Instead of running forward from Abraham 42 generations, it runs backward from Jesus to Adam, 76 generations. From Abraham to David the two genealogies are the same, but from David to Joseph they are different except for two names, Zerubbabel and his father Shealtiel. The major difficulty is that these two different genealogies are presented as the line of Joseph. How do we explain that? Several explanations have been offered. One is that one genealogy is giving the natural line of descent and the other the legal line of descent. It has been suggested (and this is the ancient explanation of most of the Fathers), that Joseph was the legal son of Heli, but the real son of Jacob. What seems most plausible to me is that Joseph was the son-in-law of Heli, and that Luke is actually tracing the line of Mary. This certainly would fit in the character of Luke’s gospel, for he gives more attention to the experiences of Mary than any other gospel writers do. The important thing to remember is that the one the Old Testament prophets said was going to come, has come – Jesus the Christ. Greg Litmer
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