Between Wickedness And Godliness

1 Chronicles 3:17-18 " The sons of Jeconiah who was taken prisoner by the Babylonians, were Shealtiel, Malkiram, Pedaiah, Shenazzar, Jekamiah, Hoshama, and Nedabiah."

Matthew 1:12 NLT "After the Babylonian exile: Jeconiah was the father of Shealtiel. Shealtiel was the father of Zerubbabel."



We don't really know much about Shealtiel. He is mentioned eleven times in the Bible - but there are precious few details about his life. What we know about him only comes from two geneologies; 1 Chronicles 3 and Matthew 1. In fact, there are only three facts about Shealtiel that we can glean from scriptures:
One: He was the son of Jeconiah.
Two: He was born in Babylon.
Three: He was the father of Zerubbabel.

That's it. His whole life; what he did, who he married, how he served God...none of that is known to us! If it weren't for the family lists in scripture, we wouldn't have even known that Shealtiel ever existed! How depressing for him, right? However, when we take a deep look at Shealtiel's surroundings, we can see more clearly what kind of man he must have been.

First, let's look at Shealtiel's father, Jeconiah:

Jeconiah was the son of King Jehoiakim and grandson of King Josiah. Although Josiah was a righteous man, Jehoiakim was anything but. While denying the very God that made King Josiah powerful, Jehoiakim also rebelled against the most powerful empire in the world - Babylon. This was an extremely foolish move!

When Jeconiah was only eight years old, Jehoiakim made him an "associate king". He co-ruled the nation of Judah at his father's side for ten years. No doubt, during this time, Jeconiah learned the wicked ways and practices of his father and even began to follow them. 2 Chronicles 36:9 has this testimony about Jeconiah, "He did evil in the sight of the LORD." After Babylon-supported raiders killed Jehoiakim, Jeconiah became king of Judah at the age of eighteen. He never turned from his wicked ways or repented. After three short months as king, Jeconiah was captured and taken to Babylon as a prisoner.

While he was in Babylon, his uncle Zedekiah was instated as king by the Babylonian emperor. Most Jews still regarded Jeconiah as king though, and erroneously believed that God would bring him back to the throne. This led Jeremiah to announce by the Holy Spirit that none of Jeconiah's descendants would ever sit on David's throne. Jeconiah destroyed the destiny of his children by his own wickedness. Still, it wasn't all bad for him. After several years of captivity, the next Babylonian emperor had pity on this one-time king. He let Jonah out of prison and gave him a life in Babylon. It was during this time that Shealtiel was born.

Now let's look at Shealtiel's son, Zerubbabel:

We don't know much about Zerubbabel's early life. His name is actually Assyrian, not Hebrew. It means "the one conceived in Babylon." Zerubbabel never knew anything but life in captivity. He never experienced any other culture other than that of Babylon and then Persia. But somehow, this was the man that Cyrus picked to lead the first wave of returning exiles. Zerubbabel led over 40,000 Jewish people back to Jerusalem to repopulate and rebuild.

In Jerusalem, Zerubbabel was instated as governor by Cyrus and he laid the foundation of the new temple. This was a man that feared God and worked closely with Joshua the high priest. God responded to Zerubbabel's trust in Him and declared through Haggai, "On that day, says the Lord of Hosts, I will take you Zerubbabel, son of Shealtiel, my servant, and wear you like a signet ring; for it is you whom I have chosen."

God rejected Jeconiah and his descendants as kings because of his wickedness. But when Zerubbabel embraced Him, God worked around His own curse and brought a blessing on this family once again. Now the question is, who taught Zerubbabel to fear God? It certainly wasn't a common thing in his culture. Babylon and Persia were both god-less, immoral, and idolatrous empires. So where did this man who was "conceived in Babylon" learn about the ways of God?

 From his father.

 This is where Shealtiel comes in. He saw the wickedness of his father. He knew the stories of what God did to Judah because of the evil that his people were practicing. And he knew the prophecies of repentance and restoration for the Jewish people. So Shealtiel bridged the gap between a wicked generation and a restored generation. He was a member of a repentant generation.

Daniel was a member of that same generation. He was only a child when he was ripped out of Jerusalem. He was forced to grow up in a pagan and ungodly culture. But listen to his prayer in Daniel 8:4-11:

      "Lord, you are a great and wonderful God. You keep the covenant you made with all those who love you and obey your commands. You show them your love. We have sinned and done what is wrong. We have been evil. We have refused to obey you. We have turned away from your commands and laws. We haven’t listened to your servants the prophets. They spoke in your name to our kings and princes. They also brought your message to all of our people in the land.

      “Lord, you always do what is right. But we are covered with shame today. We are the people of Judah and Jerusalem. All of us are Israelites, no matter where we live. We are now living in many countries. You scattered us among the nations because we weren’t faithful to you. Lord, we and our kings and princes and people are covered with shame. We have sinned against you.

     “You are the Lord our God. You show us your tender love. You forgive us. But we have turned against you. You are the Lord our God. But we haven’t obeyed you. We haven’t kept the laws you gave us through your servants the prophets. All of the people of Israel have broken your law and turned away from it. They have refused to obey you."

It was a wicked generation that brought sorrow to Israel. Shealtiel's generation was raised in that sorrow and became repentant, seeking God's forgiveness for the sins that their fathers had committed. They knew that they were to be exiled for seventy years - per God's decree. So Shealtiel knew that he wouldn't see Jerusalem or the promised restoration of God's people. So what did he do? He prepared his son.

Now we can see a few powerful truths from the life of Shealtiel.

First, we can see the divine order of things. No one can move straight from wickedness to restoration. The proper order is to move through repentance. God will not restore if you won't repent. Whine about grace all you want to...but grace does not cover an immoral lifestyle! This was the message that John preached, the message that Jesus preached - this is the gospel of the Kingdom - "Repent for the Kindom of Heaven is at hand!"

Secondly, I can see a profound truth in my own life. I grew up in a generation that has been alienated from God. Our fathers sowed the seed, and now we're reaping the horrible harvest. Violence. Laziness. Perversion. Immorality. Despair. My generation seems to have no hope, and we're still only digging ourselves deeper. We've been born into captivity.

As much as I try to shield them from it...my own kids have been born into this culture too. Like Zerubbabel, they have been "conceived in Babylon." But I have learned my part from Shealtiel; I have two major responsibilities:

1 - I must push into a changed lifestyle. If you're a believer that happens to be in the Millennial generation, listen to me. We cannot afford to be passive in our Christian walk! We can't afford to lose track of where our Bibles are, go days without seeking God's face, or allow ourselves to be disconnected from our spiritual leaders. We must repent of the wickedness that infiltrated our father's generation and now runs rampant in our own. We must change!

2 - I must prepare my kids for role. My kids are going to see God's glory! My kids are going to operate in the kingdom of God, not this world's system! My kids are going to lay, once again, the right foundation in the church! They're not going to "play church"! They're not going to treat God's house like a social gathering or country club! My kids are going to lead the way back to the Kingdom of God!

Why It's Important (Standing Up for Jesus' Virgin Birth)

Psalm 89:35 “Once I have sworn by My holiness. I will not lie unto David. His seed shall endure forever and his throne as the sun before us.”

Psalm 132:11 “The Lord has sworn in truth unto David that He will not turn from it. ‘Of the fruit of thy body will I set upon thy throne.”

David was a man after God’s heart. He understood the grace and the love of God more than anyone else in the Old Testament. He was the one who wrote, “Blessed is the man whose sins are forgiven.” (Psalm 32). He was the one who inspired Proverbs 4. He was the one who first desired to build a permanent place to worship God – a “house” if you will. God responded to this desire of David’s by promising an everlasting “house” for David; a descendant from his own body Who will rule forever – the Messiah. That promise is what we see in Psalm 89:35 and 132:11; the Messiah would come from David’s line.

Although David had many sons (so many that it takes three verses to list them  all! – 2 Samuel 5:14-16), his royal lineage passed through his son Solomon. Solomon was famous for being the richest king ever. He was also the wisest, writing the majority of the book of Proverbs, as well as Ecclesiastes and Song of Solomon. But he wasn’t completely sold out to God like his father was – eventually “marrying” a thousand women! His mistakes split the kingdom during the reign of his son, Rehoboam. But still God preserved the lineage of David; and his descendant ruled the tribe of Judah for centuries.

Enter Jeconiah, king of Judah, and son of the famous King Josiah. Jeconiah was a desperately wicked king during what could only be considered the dark ages of the kingdom. He continued in his wickedness despite repeated warnings from the prophet Jeremiah. His stubbornness and unrepentant heart led to this judgment from God through Jeremiah.

Is this man Jeconiah a despised broken idol? Is he a vessel wherein is no pleasure? Why then are they cast out, he and his seed, and are cast into a land which they know not? O earth, earth, earth! Hear the word of the LORD. Thus saith the LORD, Write this man childless, a man that shall not prosper in his days: for no man of his seed shall prosper, sitting upon the throne of David, and ruling any more in Judah. (emphasis added) Jeremiah 22:28-30

Rabbis today still call this the greatest theological problem in Jewish history. None of Jeconiah’s descendants could sit on David’s throne! How can God promise that the Messiah would come from David’s body and sit on his throne, and then pronounce a curse like this on one of his descendants? Many orthodox Jews who understand this have simply given up; stating that the Messiah simply can’t come now. What a tragic way of reading the Old Testament!

However, God had an amazing plan to circumnavigate Jeconiah’s curse! His answer? The virgin birth of Jesus Christ! You see, Jesus’ virgin birth protects His divinity (He had no natural father) and fulfills scripture (Isaiah 7:14). But this miraculous event also confirmed that the Messiah would come from David’s family line!

In Matthew chapter 1 we see that Jesus’ adoptive father, Joseph, is descended from Solomon. When he adopted Jesus, he gave Him the legal rights to David’s throne. David’s kingdom was rightfully Jesus’. So there you have it, Someone who wasn’t in Solomon’s line of kings now had the right to David’s throne. Problem solved, right?

Let’s read those verses again.

Psalm 89:35 “Once I have sworn by My holiness. I will not lie unto David. His seed shall endure forever and his throne as the sun before us.”

Psalm 132:11 “The Lord has sworn in truth unto David that He will not turn from it. ‘Of the fruit of thy body (natural descendants) will I set upon thy throne.”

Do you see it? The promised Messiah had to be David’s physical descendant, not simply his legal heir. If Jesus was only adopted into David’s legal line, He would be the fulfillment of David’s promise? So what’s the answer?

Matthew and Luke both record Jesus’ genealogy. They both write Joseph as the Jesus’ adopted father. But Matthew wrote that Joseph’s father was Joseph - Luke said it was Heli. In fact, the entire list of names is different from David to Joseph! Surely one of them must be mistaken, right?

Not at all! You see, Heli wasn’t Joseph’s father…he was Mary’s. Heli had two daughters (Matthew 27:56; John 19:25). Mary, Jesus’ mother was the older. Zebedee’s wife, the mother of James and John was the younger.  According to Numbers 27, when a man had only daughters, his inheritance and his family line pass on to the man who marries his oldest daughter. This is why Luke lists Joseph as the son of Heli (Mary’s father) even though Matthew says he is the son of Jacob.

Why does this matter? Follow Luke’s list of Mary’s family back to David - She came from his son Nathan! So, although Jesus’ only physical relative (His mother) did come from David, but not from the cursed royal lineage! Jesus is the physical descendant of David by birth, and the royal heir to David’s throne by adoption! God, in His mercy, worked around the curse that Jeconiah brought on his family!

For unto us a child is born (natural birth), unto us a son is given (adoption): and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9:6

The Messiah had to be born and adopted!