How does Matthew 1:5 connect to God's promises in the Old Testament? Tracing the Promise Through the Genealogy Matthew 1:5 – “Salmon was the father of Boaz by Rahab, Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse.” • Matthew’s list is more than family history; it is a highway running straight through the Old Testament promises into the New. • Each name in v. 5 is a signpost reminding us that God’s covenant words never fail. Connecting to the Abrahamic Covenant • Genesis 12:2-3 – “I will make you into a great nation … and all the families of the earth will be blessed through you.” • Both Rahab (a Canaanite) and Ruth (a Moabite) are Gentiles folded into Abraham’s line. • Their presence proves the promise was always global—God would bless “all the families of the earth.” • Matthew highlights them so we see that Jesus, the ultimate Son of Abraham (Matthew 1:1), is the channel of that worldwide blessing. Rahab and Ruth—Gentile Women of Faith • Joshua 2:11 – Rahab confesses, “the LORD your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth below.” • Ruth 1:16 – Ruth pledges, “Your people will be my people, and your God my God.” • Both women take refuge under Yahweh’s wings (cf. Ruth 2:12) and are grafted into Israel. • Their placement in the Messiah’s lineage signals grace that crosses ethnic and moral boundaries. Boaz, the Kinsman-Redeemer Pattern • Ruth 4:9-10 – Boaz redeems Ruth and the land that belonged to her husband. • As a “kinsman-redeemer” (Hebrew go’el), Boaz foreshadows the Redeemer to come (Isaiah 59:20). • Matthew’s genealogy quietly declares: the One born from this line will perform the full, final redemption. Toward the Davidic Covenant • Obed fathers Jesse, Jesse fathers David (v. 6). • 2 Samuel 7:12-13 – “I will raise up your offspring after you … and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.” • By anchoring Boaz-Obed-Jesse in the list, Matthew shows how the promise to David grows straight out of the earlier covenants. Faithfulness Woven Through Generations • Numbers 23:19 – “God is not a man, that He should lie.” • From Abraham to Rahab and Ruth, through Boaz to David, and finally to Jesus, every covenant thread is intact. • Matthew 1:5 stands as a compact testimony: the seemingly ordinary births in Bethlehem’s fields were the outworking of divine, unbreakable promises. |
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