In Matthew’s gospel, there are four women mentioned in the genealogy of our Lord, a genealogy that traces our Lord’s lineage through Solomon, and thus gives Him the title to the throne of Israel. Although these women all lived in Old Testament times, yet it is of interest to find their names in the New Testament, conspicuously mentioned in connection with the birth of the Lord Jesus. There is real instruction for us in considering them.
First of all, we notice that at least three of them were clearly Gentiles—Tamar, Rahab and Ruth. Since her husband Uriah was a Hittite, Bathsheba too might have been a Gentile, but we are not told in Scripture. This shows us how the Gentiles were directly involved in the lineage of our Lord, and in that sense the way was opened for future blessing to the Gentiles.
But what is more striking about these four women is that each had a stain on her—a blot, either because of her character or because of her background. An uninspired author might well have left their names out of the divine record, for the genealogy is traced through men, and it would seem unnecessary to bring in the names of these women, all of whom would seem to soil our Lord’s pedigree. Yet the Spirit of God has included them, both for our encouragement and for God’s glory.
Tamar
The first to be mentioned is Tamar, who was the mother of Pharez. The sad and immoral story is recorded in Genesis 38, as Judah sinks deeper and deeper into sin. First, he married a daughter of the Canaanites, who bore him three sons. Then, when two of those sons died under the Lord’s hand, he promised his youngest son to their widow, Tamar, but then did not make good on his promise. Eventually Tamar pretended to be a harlot and conceived by Judah, who evidently had no scruples about seeking out a woman of this character. But this was not the only sin in Judah’s life, for he was the brother who suggested selling Joseph into Egypt. He was not only an immoral man, but malicious and cruel as well.
Yet later, it is evident that Judah was the most repentant of all of Joseph’s brothers and the one who stepped forward in Egypt to take Benjamin’s place, when the silver cup was found in Benjamin’s sack. In the blessings of Jacob (Gen. 49:8-128Judah, thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise: thy hand shall be in the neck of thine enemies; thy father's children shall bow down before thee. 9Judah is a lion's whelp: from the prey, my son, thou art gone up: he stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as an old lion; who shall rouse him up? 10The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be. 11Binding his foal unto the vine, and his ass's colt unto the choice vine; he washed his garments in wine, and his clothes in the blood of grapes: 12His eyes shall be red with wine, and his teeth white with milk. (Genesis 49:8‑12)), no mention is made of his sin, for repentance and grace had covered it. As a result, the tribe of Judah becomes the royal tribe.
Rahab
The next name to come up is that of Rahab, another immoral woman, for she is constantly referred to as “Rahab the harlot.” Yet what characterized her was faith—faith in the God of Israel and in His power to give Israel the land of Canaan. She pinned her faith on the One about whom she had heard—the God who could dry up the Red Sea and defeat the mighty Egyptians. Her faith was strong, and the Lord honored it, for she too finds a place in our Lord’s lineage, having married the head of the tribe of Judah.
Ruth
Third, we come to Ruth, and outwardly she was a beautiful character. Her firmness in coming back to the land of Israel with her mother-in-law Naomi, her trust in the God of Israel, her willingness to go out and glean in the fields, her care for Naomi—all speak of a woman of piety and worth. Yet there was a problem, for the law clearly stated that no Moabite was to come into the congregation of Israel, no, not to the tenth generation (Deut. 23:33An Ammonite or Moabite shall not enter into the congregation of the Lord; even to their tenth generation shall they not enter into the congregation of the Lord for ever: (Deuteronomy 23:3)). But once again grace comes in, for Ruth is accepted into the congregation, over and above the law. The law is, in effect, set aside so that grace may abound. By the third generation after her, her great-grandson sits on the throne of Israel.
Bathsheba
Finally, we come to Bathsheba, and again we find ourselves associated with sin. While the responsibility for the sin must be laid at David’s door—sin of the most sordid kind—yet Bathsheba is connected with it. After David and Bathsheba committed adultery together, David arranged the murder of her husband Uriah, one his most faithful servants, in order to try and cover his sin. Yet again we find God bringing blessing out of man’s sin, for the product of the eventual union of David and Bathsheba was Solomon, of whom Scripture records, “The Lord loved him” (2 Sam. 12:2424And David comforted Bath-sheba his wife, and went in unto her, and lay with her: and she bare a son, and he called his name Solomon: and the Lord loved him. (2 Samuel 12:24)). The name Solomon means “peaceful,” but his additional name, given through Nathan the prophet, was Jedidiah, meaning “beloved of Jehovah.” As we well know, Solomon went on to succeed David on the throne of Israel, and he was a type of Christ reigning in millennial glory.
In all four of these women, we see either sin in her character or in her background, but grace triumphs over it all. Surely all this brings before us the words of our Lord, “I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance” (Luke 5:3232I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. (Luke 5:32)). Heaven will be filled with those who were sinners by both nature and practice, yet were cleansed by the work of Christ on the cross. His genealogy exemplifies this blessed truth!
W. J. Prost