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?
