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!

The Most Valuable Thing You'll Ever Own

I love my Bible! I take it everywhere I go. I love the way it looks and feels. I know it’s a book. I know I could get dozens more just like it. But to me, that book is the most important thing I own. It’s where I find God’s Word to me. It’s where I find His revelation to me! It’s more than just ink and paper, it’s my life!
 
We’ve lost something in the church. We’ve lost the passion we once had for God’s Word. We in western countries have forgotten what it’s like to give up everything for this book!
 
There was a time when the Bible was only written in Latin. Corrupt and domineering priests declared it was “too sacred” for the common language. As a result, the church was forced into ignorance of God’s Word and His will. Many of God’s men and woman were killed by “the church” because they owned and were reading God’s Word in English. They died for that book - the same book most people just throw on the table from Sunday to Sunday.
 
How many of those pilgrims died in this new world because that book was more important to them than the word of the king? How many American soldiers died in the Revolution, knowingly giving their lives for the right to read and study that book?
 
Even today, how many people around the world would give up everything to have God’s entire Word? How many people risk their lives to own, read and carry this book? They’re dying just because they’re meeting together to read that book! All this while western Christians loose focus when the pastor reads more than one verse in church!
 
We need to fall in love with God’s Word again! We need to understand what it is - this is the very heart and nature of God, written down for us! John 1:1 says, “In the beginning was the Word. And the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” I know it’s talking about Jesus, the Word made flesh - but you can’t miss the fact that it’s talking about God’s Word!
 
Everything you can ever learn about God’s nature, everything you can learn about His plan, everything you’ll ever find out about His will and His power - it has all been written down for you in that book! 2 Peter 1:3 declares that we find everything we need for life and godliness when we find the knowledge of God. We find that in His word!
 
We need to recognize that it’s impossible for God to lie - that His Word is truth! Stop focusing so much on “what He meant” and just read what He said! We’ve done God’s word a disservice by using the world around us to interpret it. Instead, we should allow His Word to interpret the world around us!
 
I don’t know about you, but my Bible goes with me everywhere! Work, shopping, to family or friends; my Bible is usually tucked under my arm! I feel absolutely naked if I go somewhere and leave it at home. After all, what if I need to dig into it to answer a question? And if I find myself waiting somewhere - of course I’m going to dive into it!
 
It is definitely noticeable to me when I have a day without reading that book! My entire attitude changes. I become irritable, selfish, and lazy...but reading God’s Word daily keeps me on the right track! I crave those words! I know now why the Psalmist said God’s Word was sweeter to him than honey!
 
Have you lost your fire for God’s Word? Has it been days since you opened it just to read? Do you find it rather monotonous and boring? Then it’s time you fall in love with it again!
How do you do that? How can you start to love the Bible again?
 
First, you need to pray. Ask God to stir up your spiritual hunger again. If you’re going to grow spiritually, you have to “desire the sincere milk of the word, that you may grow by it.” So ask God for that hunger again!
 
Second, you need to act on that hunger! Read it! Whether you feel like it or not, whether you understand it or not - get your nose in there! The more you read, you begin to develop a taste for it! You start making connections from what you’re reading to what you’ve read before! When you read the Bible daily, your pastor’s messages start to resonate with what you’ve read! It becomes exciting - you just have to start the process!
 
Finally, if you find yourself struggling to pick up the Bible and read it, find Psalm 119. Most people know this only as the longest chapter in the Bible. But it’s so much more than it’s length! This beautiful Psalm shows the importance of God’s Word in every one of its 176 verses! When you read it, read it like a prayer. If there’s one thing that will light you passion for the Bible, it’s that!
In fact, let me close with one of my favorite verses from Psalm 119 - verse 18. I pray this every time I open my Bible. “Open my eyes, that I may see wondrous things from Your law.”

The Sound Of Victory

In 2 Kings 6 we see a desperate situation. Israel was ruled by Ahab’s wicked son Joram. Most of the godly Israelis had emigrated to the southern kingdom of Judah, to the righteous kings Asa and Jehoshaphat (2 Chronicles 15:9). At the time of Elijah and Ahab’s showdown, there were only 7,000 godly people in the entire country of Israel. Fast forward about twenty years and things hadn’t changed much. The natural son of Ahab - Joram - and the spiritual son of Elijah - Elisha - were still locked in a battle for the hearts of God’s people.

Because of Israel’s backslidden condition, God had begun to allow other nations to begin swallowing them up. The nation of Syria was one of them, and in 2 Kings 6 they had laid siege on the capital city of Samaria. Still, God goal was reconciliation, not retribution. His desire was that his wayward people would return to Him. But the more they refused, the more desperate their situation became.
Food was scarce in Samaria. The Syrian army closed around the city like a clamp. No one could come or go. But God was about to make a power-play to wake his people up!

As it always does, God’s Word came first. Elisha prophesied that within 24 hours everything would change. Food would be so plentiful that any amount of money would buy it. No one believed him though, and no one moved.

Outside the city, sat four lepers. If the people inside the city had it bad, can you imagine life for a leper at that time? These were throwaway people. They weren’t allowed inside the city, and who would give precious food to someone who was just going to die anyway? If the word to describe conditions inside Samaria was desperate, the word for these four lepers would be hopeless.

The very evening that Elisha prophesied, these four lepers decided to do something about their situation. They said, “Why should we stay here and die? If we go back into the city, we’ll die; if we stay here we’ll die. Let’s go to the Syrians. If they have pity on us, we’ll live. If they kill us, we’ll die quickly at least.

So they got up at twilight, as the sun was setting and went to the Syrian camp. When they got there, things weren’t at all like they were expecting. No one was in sight! Not one soldier, not a man or woman anywhere! Every tent they entered was deserted! Not one Syrian was in the entire area! But...all their stuff was! The four lepers cleared out one tent, taking all that stuff and hiding it. Then they came back and did it again!

On their third trip back, they realized that they weren’t exactly doing the right thing. All of Samaria was starving to death, and they were hoarding the abandoned supplies. So they went and told the king in Samaria. Within hours of when the lepers told King Joram, the markets in Samaria were full of Syrian supplies!

Why did the Syrian army just disappear? What was it that made them leave everything they had behind? 2 Kings 7:6-7 says that “God caused them to hear the noise of a great army.” So, rather than staying and fighting whatever this massive army was, they turned and ran. They ran so hard that they stripped off everything they had on them so they could run faster! They actually left a trail of dropped supplies as they ran, not to mention everything that was still in their camp!

What I want you to see is in verse verse 7: “They arose and fled at twilight.” The same time the four lepers decided to get up and do something! God took the sound of four weak, starving lepers and turned it into the sound of a massive army! All He was looking for was someone to do something!

Now let’s talk...are there situations in your life where you feel like you’re starving? Does anything in your life feel hopeless? Maybe you have issues that have been going on in your family for far too long. Maybe your heart is broken for your city or your neighborhood and you wish something would change. Maybe you want to see God’s power and glory poured out in your church. Whatever it is, take a lesson from these lepers and just do something! If you do nothing, then nothing will change. But, if you get up and start moving you’ll get results! Maybe this means witnessing one more time to your loved ones. Maybe it’s praying a little more aggressively. Whatever it is you’re believing God for, don’t give up!

You may see what you’re doing as weak and ineffective, but if only you could hear what it sounds like to your enemy! God is able to turn the weak, tired efforts on your part and turn them into victory! He’s just looking for someone to start moving!