Noooo…. Not a bunch of genealogies! 😭
Hold on. What have learned in this blog? Come on. You know this…
“We don’t skip genealogies.”
That’s right. And I’m about to show you why.
(Rubs hands together excitedly…) 😁
What do kids do on the playground before playing a team sport? They pick teams. And how do they do that? They start by naming team captains.
“And there shall be with you a man from each tribe, each man being the head of the house of his fathers.” Numbers 1:4 ESV
Verses 5-15 name the 12 team captains. If you look closely you’ll notice some things.
- Levi isn’t listed. That’s because this list is about who is going to war (v.3) and Levi would be the Defense Team around the Tabernacle and they already have a captain: Aaron. See Num. 1:48-53.
- Joseph gets 2 because Jacob adopted Ephraim & Manasseh and gave them equal portions as sons.
I’m interested in the man chosen to “stand with” Moses (v5) from the tribe of Judah: Nashon son of Amminadab. Nashon is (technically pronounced Nach-shone, but we’ll call him Nah-shone). This designation as leader is repeated in 2:3 in addition to Judah’s position in camp: East (or in front of) the Tabernacle.
1:16 tells us that, “These were the ones chosen from the congregation, the chiefs of their ancestral tribes, the heads of the clans of Israel.” Numbers 1:16 ESV
Chief Nashon, son of Amminnidab. That sounds quite official. And 1:26-27 tell us that the fighting force of Judah was 74,600 strong.
For comparison, I found this handy guide to United States Army units:
General Nashon is not leading just any old bunch. Chapter 2:9 tells us that in all their campaigns, Judah was to go first. So – they are like the Army Rangers, the Green Berets and the Navy Seals. Spec. Ops. They go in first and make a beachhead. 🪂🪖🎖️
Nashon was in the company of men like General George Washington, General Ulysses S. Grant, General Douglas MacArthur, General Dwight D. Eisenhower, and General George S. Patton. He’s a founding father. A respected military leader. And… he is the ancestor of Jesus. 👀
“David was the son of Jesse. Jesse was the son of Obed. Obed was the son of Boaz. Boaz was the son of Salmon. Salmon was the son of Nahshon. Nahshon was the son of Amminadab. Amminadab was the son of Admin. Admin was the son of Arni [alternate spelling of Aram]. Arni was the son of Hezron. Hezron was the son of Perez. Perez was the son of Judah.”
Luke 3:32-33 NLT [added info mine]
(Remember that sordid story back in Genesis where Judah got his daughter-in-law pregnant? She had twins. Perez was one of them.
Oh- and what do you suppose Admin’s admin password was?) 😏
“So Joshua spared Rahab the prostitute and her relatives who were with her in the house, because she had hidden the spies Joshua sent to Jericho. And she lives among the Israelites to this day.”
Joshua 6:25 NLT
“Judah was the father of Perez and Zerah (whose mother was Tamar). Perez was the father of Hezron. Hezron was the father of Ram [or Aram]. Ram was the [grand]father of Amminadab. Amminadab was the father of Nahshon. Nahshon was the father of Salmon. Salmon was the father of Boaz (whose mother was Rahab). Boaz was the father of Obed (whose mother was Ruth). Obed was the father of Jesse. Jesse was the father of King David. David was the father of Solomon (whose mother was Bathsheba, the widow of Uriah).”
Matthew 1:4-6 NLT [added info mine]
THIS is Jesus’ family tree. Great men. Flawed men. Brave women. Women with a sketchy past. Most a mix of all the above.
And this is who Jesus invites to be part of His family. There are prostitutes on this list – and men who visited them, killers, a woman who was raised in a culture with a satanic sex cult, a polygamist, and adulterers. And those are just the stories we know about. God redeemed this mess. He can redeem yours.
No one who humbly comes to Christ will be turned away. He forgives, sets free, and transforms us into new people.
Compared to the people in the lists above, it feels pretty silly to be like – “oh dear, I bet God is disappointed in me because I didn’t pray for an hour and have my life in perfect order before breakfast this morning.” 🥞
The Shepherd is committed to His flock. He’s not going to abandon you because you are struggling to keep up with the other sheep or your choices are leading you too close to the wolves. He might have to give you a loving whack with the rod and throw you over His shoulder like a sack of potatoes, but He won’t abandon you. Best to get in there close though. No better place to be than right next to the Shepherd. 🐑🐑🐑🐑🐑🐑
He was guiding His people all along. Even His own ancestors. Whether they knew it or not.
Say it with me, friends. 👩🏫💬
“This is why we don’t skip genealogies.”
To The Reader 