MESSED UP PEOPLE

Have you ever felt like you have not succeeded in life

the way you wanted to?  In fact maybe even failed?

Perhaps messed up in a big way?

Note:

A few proud folks will not admit it.  But the rest

of us will at least admit it to ourselves.

God let me see something when reading my Bible one 

morning.  I have read dozens of times the list of ancestors

Christ had in the Gospel of Matthew.  And of course have

read the names of a few women listed there.

We both know that usually only the men are listed in

the ancestral line in the Scriptures.  Why these women

are listed here, I do not know.  But they are ancestors 

of Christ himself. 

What God let me see is that ALL of the women listed

in this ancestral line are not the epitome of polite Jewish

culture or even of godliness.  Consider each one.

Tamar.

Let's just say that she had a messed up marriage.  Or

marriages.  And that she might have even messed things

up worse.  You can read about her in Genesis chapter 38.

Rahab.

In Joshua 2:1 we learn she was a prostitute.

Ruth.

We do not know anything bad about Ruth or her

actions.  But she was a foreigner.  She was a Mobite.

The Mobites worshiped false gods.  They even tried to

get a curse put on God's people.  God said they were

not to be allowed into the Jewish fellowship until the

tenth generation because of this.

Bathsheba.

She is not named in the list.  But is very clearly spelled

out as to who she was.  As we know, king David had an

affair with her which resulted in another messed up 

marriage.

I have heard at least one preacher lay the whole blame on

her by claiming she enticed or seduced David.  However

the Scriptures indicate she was taking a "ritual" bath that

she was supposed to.  And I do not know of one word of 

criticism in the Scriptures toward her.  She may have

been coerced into the situation.  But whether willing,

or unwilling, her life was messed up.

What is the point?

God used some messed up people to bring the saviour 

into the world.  If he would do that - don't you think he

can take our messed up lives and do something with them?