What is the meaning of Matthew 1:14? Azor was the father of Zadok • Matthew’s genealogy (Matthew 1:1–17) is arranged in three sets of fourteen names to highlight God’s orderly plan; Azor appears in the third set, covering the post-exilic years. • By recording, “Azor was the father of Zadok” (Matthew 1:14), Scripture affirms that the royal line did not die out during the long, quiet centuries after the Babylonian captivity (cf. 1 Chronicles 3:17-24; Jeremiah 23:5-6). • Every generation listed—Azor included—testifies that God kept His promise to David that “a man will never fail to sit on the throne of the house of Israel” (Jeremiah 33:17). • Practical takeaway: even when history seems silent, God is faithfully moving His plan forward, weaving ordinary lives like Azor’s into His redemptive tapestry. Zadok the father of Achim • “Zadok the father of Achim” shows the baton passing from one generation to the next, echoing the seamless priestly handoffs in Israel’s earlier history (compare 1 Kings 2:35). • Though this Zadok is otherwise unknown, his place in the lineage underlines a key biblical pattern: unnamed or little-known believers can play indispensable roles in God’s purposes (cf. Hebrews 11:39-40). • The transition from Zadok to Achim bridges centuries of relative obscurity, yet it keeps the family tree rooted in the promise that a “shoot will spring from the stump of Jesse” (Isaiah 11:1). • Practical takeaway: obscurity in the world’s eyes never negates significance in God’s plan. Achim the father of Eliud • With “Achim the father of Eliud,” Matthew moves the story one step closer to Jesus. Eliud’s line quickly connects to Eleazar, Matthan, Jacob, Joseph, and finally “Jesus, who is called Christ” (Matthew 1:15-16). • Galatians 4:4 declares, “When the fullness of time had come, God sent His Son.” Achim and Eliud are evidence that God was counting down the generations precisely toward that moment. • Each seemingly ordinary birth recorded here stands as a witness that God never forgets His covenant (Psalm 105:8-9). • Practical takeaway: God’s timing is perfect; every birth, every generation, every moment moves His redemption plan forward. summary Matthew 1:14, though brief, reinforces three truths: God faithfully preserves His promises across centuries, He uses unknown people for eternal purposes, and He orchestrates each generation to bring His Son into the world “in the fullness of time.” Far from a dry list of names, the verse invites us to trust that the same covenant-keeping God is at work in our own ordinary stories today. |
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