MATTHEW FIRST WROTE HIS GOSPEL IN HIS OWN NATIVE LANGUAGE OF HEBREW, BEFORE IT WAS SOON AFTER TRANSLATED INTO GREEK. THIS SAYS THAT MATTHEW'S INTENDED AUDIENCE WAS JEWS ... A GOOD CONTEXT TO HAVE UPFRONT.
INFACT MATTHEW'S GOSPEL IS THE MOST JEWISH, CONTAINING A NUMBER OF CULTURAL EXPRESSIONS (CALLED HEBRAISMS OR IDIOMS), WHICH ARE SOMEWHAT OBSCURED OR MASKED BECAUSE OF THEIR TRANSLATION INTO FOREIGN LANGUAGES (SUCH AS ENGLISH), SO SOME THINGS THAT MATTHEW PUT INTO HIS GOSPEL (THAT WERE UNDERSTOOD BY JEWS IN THAT ERA) WOULD HAVE BEEN COMPLETELY FOREIGN AND CONFUSING TO GENTILES, AND IT REMAINS THAT WAY, ESPECIALLY FOR MODERN BELIEVERS TODAY AFTER NEARLY 2000 YEARS.
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1. This is the genealogy/ancestry (family history) of YAHUSHA the Messiah. He came from the bloodline of David, who was from the bloodline of Abraham...
GENEALOGY - A NEW CREATION
WEBSTER'S DICTIONARY SAYS THAT GENEALOGY IS "A LINE OF DESCENT TRACED CONTINUOUSLY FROM AN ANCESTOR". THEREFORE WHEN WE READ THE WORD "GENEALOGY" ... TO US IT MEANS A LIST OF NAMES OF DISTANT FAMILY FROM THE PAST THAT TRACES THE BEGINNING ANCESTORS FORWARD TO YAHUSHA MESSIAH.
HOWEVER IN GREEK THE WORD IS "GENESIS"... YES, THE SAME WORD USED AS THE TITLE FOR THE FIRST BOOK OF THE SCRIPTURE.
SO AS WE PUT ON OUR 1ST CENTURY HEBREW MINDSET, A THEME THAT FLOWS THROUGHOUT THE GOSPEL ACCOUNTS (AND ALL OF THE NEW BLOOD-COVENANT) IS THAT THE ARRIVAL OF YAHUSHA IS TO BE VIEWED (FIRST AND FOREMOST) AS THE BEGINNING OF A NEW-CREATION-ORDER: A SECOND GENESIS. PAUL ALSO ADVANCES THIS THEME IN SEVERAL OF HIS LETTERS :
2 CORINTHIANS 5:17 "THEREFORE, IF ANYONE IS UNITED WITH YAHUSHA MESSIAH, HE IS A NEW CREATION - THE OLD HAS PASSED AWAY AND LOOK, WHAT HAS COME IS FRESH AND NEW!"
JOHN'S GOSPEL FOLLOWS ALONG THIS THOUGHT ALSO (EVEN THOUGH HE DOESN'T BEGIN WITH AN OFFICIAL GENEALOGY). HE OPENS HIS STORY OF YAHUSHA BY MAKING A DIRECT CONNECTION OF HIS ARRIVAL WITH THE 1ST AND ORIGINAL GENESIS. THAT IS (FOR JOHN) WHILE YAHUSHA IS THE CREATOR OF A 2ND GENESIS, A RE-CREATION (THAT WE FIND IN THE NEW BLOOD-COVENANT), HE WAS ALSO THERE TO CREATE THE 1ST GENESIS, THE ORIGINAL CREATION (THAT WE FIND IN THE TORAH).
JOHN 1:1 "IN THE BEGINNING WAS THE WORD, AND THE WORD WAS WITH ALAHIM, AND THE WORD WAS/IS ALAHIM. HE WAS WITH ALAHIM IN THE BEGINNING. ALL THINGS CAME TO BE THROUGH HIM, AND WITHOUT HIM NOTHING MADE HAD BEING".
PAUL IN ROMANS CHAPTER 5 EXPANDS THAT CONNECTION AS HE MAKES YAHUSHA TO BE THE ULTIMATE 2ND ADAM. SO THE BEST POSSIBLE INTERPRETATION OF THE OPENING FEW WORDS OF MATTHEW SHOULD BE: "THIS IS THE BOOK OF THE NEW CREATION (GEN) ESTABLISHED BY YAHUSHA MESSIAH, SON OF DAVID, SON OF ABRAHAM."
THIS CONCEPT OF YAHUSHA CREATING AN ACTUAL (NOT A METAPHORICAL) 2ND GENESIS, A FULL-ON RE-CREATION IS BROUGHT HOME TO US ALL THE MORE, IN FINAL BOOK OF THE NEW BLOOD-COVENANT :
REVELATION 21:1
"THEN I SAW A NEW HEAVEN AND A NEW EARTH, FOR THE OLD HEAVEN AND THE OLD EARTH HAD PASSED AWAY, AND THE SEA WAS NO LONGER THERE. ALSO I SAW THE SET-APART CITY, NEW JERUSALEM, COMING DOWN OUT OF HEAVEN FROM ALAHIM . . . AND THERE WILL BE NO MORE MOURNING, CRYING OR PAIN; BECAUSE THE OLD ORDER HAS PASSED AWAY.' THEN THE ONE SITTING ON THE THRONE SAID, 'LOOK! I AM MAKING EVERYTHING NEW! . . . WRITE, 'THESE WORDS ARE TRUE AND TRUSTWORTHY!'"
BECAUSE MATTHEW WAS A JEWISH BELIEVER, THEN HIS OPENING POINT IS ALSO TO SHOW THAT YAHUSHA MEETS ALL THE REQUIREMENTS OF THE OLDER SCRIPTURES, TO BE THE MESSIAH OF ALAHIM THAT THE HEBREW PEOPLE HAVE LONGED FOR, SINCE (ACCORDING TO THE SCRIPTURES) THE TRUE MESSIAH MUST BE A DESCENDANT OF ABRAHAM, ISAAC, JACOB, JUDAH, JESSIE, AND KING DAVID.
NOTICE ALSO HOW THE OPENING VERSE INTRODUCES THE GENEALOGY. THAT IS, YAHUSHA'S IDENTITY IS SUMMED UP AS SIMPLY THE SON OF DAVID - SON OF ABRAHAM !
BY SAYING THAT YAHUSHA IS THE SON OF DAVID, THE INTENT IS TO PROVE THAT HE IS ROYALTY FROM THE TRIBE OF JUDAH THROUGH DAVID, WHICH MAKES HIM OF THE PROPER FAMILY LINE TO RULE.
BY SAYING ALSO THAT HE IS THE SON OF ABRAHAM, IT MAKES A FIRM CONNECTION THAT HE IS A FULL-FLEDGED HEBREW AND THEREFORE ELIGIBLE TO BRING ABOUT AND FULFIL THE PROMISES YAHUAH ALAHIM MADE TO ABRAHAM IN GEN.12 THAT THROUGH ABRAHAM, ALL THE FAMILIES OF THE EARTH CAN BE BLESSED.
1. This is the genealogy/ancestry (family history) of YAHUSHA the Messiah. He came from the bloodline of David, who was from the bloodline of Abraham...
2. Abraham was the father of Isaac. Isaac was the father of Jacob. Jacob was the father of Judah and his eleven brothers. 3. Judah was the father of Perez and Zerah (whose mother was Tamar.) Perez was the father of Hezron, father of Ram. 4. Ram was the father of Amminadab, father of Nahshon, father of Salmon. 5. Salmon was the father of Boaz (whose mother was Rahab the Jericho Inn-Keeper.) Boaz was the father of Obed (whose mother was Ruth) and Obed was the father of Jesse. 6. Jesse was the father of King David, the father of King Solomon (whose mother had been Uriah’s wife, Bathsheba.) 7. Solomon was the father of Rehoboam, father of Abijah, father of Asa, 8. father of Jehoshaphat, father of Jehoram, father of Uzziah, 9. father of Jotham, father of Ahaz, father of Hezekiah, 10. father of Manasseh, father of Amon, father of Josiah. 11. Josiah was the grandfather of Jehoiachin and his brothers, who lived during the time that the people were taken away, exiled to Babylon.
FOUR GENTILE WOMEN
ANOTHER IMPORTANT FACTOR IS THE NAMING OF 4 WOMEN IN MATTHEW'S GENEALOGY OF YAHUSHA, BECAUSE INCLUDING WOMEN IN A HEBREW GENEALOGY IS VERY RARE.
TAMAR WAS THE DAUGHTER-IN -LAW OF JUDAH WHO DISGUISED HERSELF AS A PROSTITUTE AND PRODUCED TWIN SONS WITH HIM.
RAHAB IS THE INN KEEPER OF JERICHO, WHO BETRAYED HER OWN PEOPLE TO HELP YISHARAL & JOSHUA CONQUER JERICHO AS THEY BEGAN THEIR INVASION OF CANAAN.
RUTH IS THE MOABITE WIDOW WHO GAVE UP HER ALLEGIANCE TO HER OWN PEOPLE AND DEITIES, AND JOINED HERSELF TO YISHARAL AND THEIR ALAHIM.
BATHSHEBA, IS THE WOMAN WHO DAVID HAD A SORDID AFFAIR WITH AND EVEN ARRANGED TO HAVE HER HUSBAND URIAH KILLED, SO THAT HE COULD HAVE HER AS HIS OWN (SOLOMON WAS BATHSHEBA'S MOST FAMOUS OFFSPRING).
THESE WOMEN WERE ALL GENTILES. OR, PERHAPS ANOTHER WAY OF LOOKING AT IT IS THAT THESE WOMEN BEGAN LIFE AS GENTILES BEFORE ENGRAFTING INTO YISHARAL (IT IS HIGHLY LIKELY THAT BATHSHEBA WAS A GENTILE SINCE HER HUSBAND, URIAH, WAS A HITTITE). SO THE MENTION OF 4 FEMALE GENTILE ANCESTORS OF MESSIAH IS MEANT TO CATCH OUR ATTENTION.... AND ESPECIALLY TO CATCH THE ATTENTION OF 1ST CENTURY JEWS. BUT IN WHAT WAY AND TO WHAT END? REMEMBER THE RACISM!!
THE NUMBER 4 IN HEBREW MEANS `UNIVERSALITY' AND ALSO 'THE WHOLE WORLD' SINCE THERE ARE 4 DIRECTIONS ON A COMPASS (HENCE THE PHRASE "TO THE 4 CORNERS OF THE EARTH"). SO THE MESSAGE IS CLEAR THAT ALTHOUGH YAHUSHA IS THOROUGHLY HEBREW (JEWISH) OF THE ROYAL LINEAGE OF DAVID, AND BORN OF A JEWISH WOMAN IN THE SET-APART LAND ... DEEP DOWN IN HIS BEING AND ESSENCE THERE ARE TRACES OF GENTILE CONNECTIONS THAT CANNOT BE IGNORED. AND EVEN MORE INTERESTING IS THAT (EXCEPT FOR RUTH), THE BACKGROUND OF THE OTHER 3 WOMEN IS LESS THAN MORAL AND UPSTANDING!
A SHADOW OF THE NATIONS ENTERING THE REIGN !
CONTINUING THE GENEALOGY :
12. After the House of Judah (Jews) were taken to Babylon, Jehoiachin was the father of Shealtiel, grandfather of Zerubbabel, 13. father of Abiud, father of Eliakim, father of Azor, 14. father of Zadok, father of Achim, father of Eliud, 15. father of Eleazar, father of Matthan, father of Jacob.
THIS WAS AN EVENT THAT WOULD FOREVER CHANGE THE JEWS, SO FOR THEM, THE TERM "DELIVERANCE" HAD ALWAYS MEANT 'BEING SET FREE FROM THE OPPRESSION OF A GENTILE CONQUEROR', HOWEVER UPON THE ARRIVAL OF YAHUSHA IT TOOK ON NEW MEANING AS BEING SET FREE FROM SIN AND ETERNAL DEATH.
16. And Jacob was the father of Joseph, who married Mary, the mother of YAHUSHA, who is called the Messiah.
SO MATTHEW IS CAREFUL TO MAKE JOSEPH MARY'S HUSBAND, BUT NOT THE BIOLOGICAL FATHER OF HER CHILD. BUT AT THE SAME TIME, HE MAKES MARY YAHUSHA’S BIOLOGICAL MOTHER.
17. So there were fourteen generations from Abraham to David, then another fourteen generations from David until the people were captured and exiled to Babylon. Then there were another fourteen more generations from the time of the exile to Babylon until the Messiah was born.
DANIEL'S END-TIME PROPHECY
WE SHOULD ALSO NOT OVERLOOK THE USE OF THE NUMBER 42 IN THE SCRIPTURE. MATTHEW SAYS THERE'S 42 GENERATIONS (3 X 14 = 42) FROM ABRAHAM TO YAHUSHA. THE PROPHET DANIEL (UPON WHOM SO MUCH OF REVELATION IS BASED) SPEAKS OF THE END TIMES AND THE RULE OF THE ANTI-MESSIAH USING THE KEY NUMBERS 1260 DAYS, 3.5 YEARS, AND 42 MONTHS (ALL THE SAME TIME). IS MATTHEW SAYING THERE IS A CONNECTION BETWEEN YAHUSHA'S GENEALOGY, DAVID'S NAME, DANIEL'S END TIME PROPHECIES, AND THEREFORE THE ULTIMATE PURPOSE FOR HIS COMING?
DUE TO THE OPPRESSION OF ROME,
DANIEL'S PROPHECIES WERE HUGELY POPULAR (AS WELL AS WERE MESSIANIC EXPECTATIONS RUNNING HIGH). DURING THAT ERA IT WAS BELIEVED THAT THE END TIMES OF DANIEL AND THE COMING OF THE MESSIAH OCCURRED IN TANDEM. SO IT ALL COULD HAVE WORKED TOGETHER QUITE SEAMLESSLY IN THE MINDS OF JEWS AT THAT TIME, ESPECIALLY THE JEWISH FOLLOWERS OF YAHUSHA MESSIAH.
YAHUSHA THE ULTIMATE KING AND SON OF DAVID (LION FROM THE TRIBE OF JUDAH WHO OPENED THE SCROLLS) WILL ERADICATE ALL LAST-DAY ANTI-MESSIAH ACTIVITY THROUGH A COMPLETE DISTRUCTION OF SIN AND THEN A FINAL CONSUMMATION OF HIS NEW ETERNAL CREATION ORDER!
DR LUKE, (GOSPEL WRITER) WAS PAUL'S GENTILE COMPANION, SO WHEN HE SUPPLIES A GENEALOGY OF YAHUSHA, HE DOES IT IN A VERY UN-HEBREW WAY, WRITING IT IN ASCENDING ORDER (BACKWARDS FROM THE JEWISH NORM). FURTHER, WHILE LUKE ENDEAVOURS TO CONNECT MESSIAH TO THE ANCESTOR OF EVERY HUMAN..... ADAM, MATTHEW SEEKS TO CONNECT MESSIAH TO THE UNDISPUTED FATHER OF THE HEBREWS, ABRAHAM, SINCE
MATTHEW WAS HEBREW.
THE CONCLUSION SO FAR IN THIS 1st CHAPTER'S GENEALOGY (BEFORE YAHUSHA EVEN STEPS ONTO THE SCENE) IS THAT BOTH JEW AND GENTILE WILL BE WELCOME IN YAHUSHA'S NEW CREATION ORDER - A 2ND GENESIS WHERE THE VEIL WILL BE RENT AGAIN AND ACCESS MADE AVAILABLE FOR ALL WHO REPENT & FOLLOW IN THE TRANSFORMATION (REMEMBER DAVID'S PRAISE TENT)?! PEOPLE FROM ALL NATIONS WILL SING NEW SONGS TO THE LAMB ON THE THRONE IN SPIRIT & TRUTH, IN ONE MIND AND PURPOSE, FROM A PURE CONSCIENCE ... ENTERING BOLDLY TO THE THRONE OF FAVOUR FOR STRENGTHENING, WITHIN THE BRIDAL ASSEMBLY OF YAHUSHA'S BODY !! WHY?
FOR MORE LOVE - LOVE WILL BE THE 42
(THE CONQUERING OF THE ANTI-MESSIAH)
PERSON BY PERSON - DISSOLVING THE EVIL
BUT WE HAVE TO ACTIVATE & BEHAVE IT !
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18. This is how the birth of YAHUSHA the Messiah happened. His mother Mary was engaged to marry Joseph. But before they married, he learned that she was pregnant (by the power of Alahim’s Spirit.) THIS IS WHERE YAHUAH DUMPED HIS OLD SELF & NAME AND METAMORPHED INTO A BRAND NEW CREATION FOR DELIVERANCE
IMMACULATE CONCEPTION?
OFTEN WE HEAR THE TERM "IMMACULATE CONCEPTION" IN REGARDS TO THIS EVENT, AND IN EFFECT, THIS IS CONFLATING TWO ENTIRELY DIFFERENT THINGS. THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION IS PURELY ROMAN CATHOLIC DOCTRINE THAT HAS LITTLE TO DO WITH THE BIRTH OF YAHUSHA. RATHER IT IS A DOCTRINE HELD AS A CORE BELIEF THAT THE VIRGIN MARY WAS HERSELF CONCEIVED BY A DIVINE MIRACLE THAT MADE HER FREE FROM SIN. SO IN MANY RESPECTS, THE THOUGHT IS THAT MARY CONCEIVED HER SON IN THE SAME WAY SHE WAS CONCEIVED. IN ROMAN CATHOLICISM THIS ALLOWS FOR ELEVATING MARY BEYOND NORMAL HUMAN STATUS TO THE SEMI-DIVINE .... NONSENSE!
MATTHEW TAKES ON PERHAPS THE MOST CONTROVERSIAL ASPECT OF YAHUSHA'S BIRTH SITUATION (IF NOT OF HIS ENTIRE LIFE), EXPLAINING THAT ALTHOUGH JOSEPH AND MARY WERE ENGAGED, THEY WERE NOT YET MARRIED. YET, MARY HAD BECOME PREGNANT. THIS WAS A TERRIBLE SCANDAL WITHIN THE JEWISH COMMUNITY.
MANY TRANSLATIONS USE THE WORD 'ENGAGED' TO DESCRIBE THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN JOSEPH AND MARY, HOWEVER A BETTER WORD IS 'BETROTHED'. THE WORD `ENGAGED’ IN THE MODERN WESTERN WORLD DOESN'T
CARRY THE SAME SENSE AS THE WORD `BETROTHED` IN ANCIENT TIMES. 'ENGAGED' IS AN ARRANGEMENT WHEREBY A MAN AND A WOMAN AGREE TO AT SOME POINT BECOME MARRIED. ENGAGEMENTS ARE BROKEN ALL THE TIME AND OTHER THAN THE TYPICAL EMOTIONAL TOLL IT CAUSES, LITTLE OTHER HARM IS DONE. `BETROTHAL` HOWEVER IS ANOTHER MATTER ALTOGETHER.
BETROTHAL IN HEBREW CULTURE WAS A SOLEMN PROMISE, SEALED WITH A COMMITMENT IN WHICH THE MALE AND FEMALE BOUND THEMSELVES TOGETHER BY A MARRIAGE CONTRACT THAT WAS SIGNED, SEALED AND DELIVERED AT THE MOMENT OF BETROTHAL. SO THE WAY WE THINK OF MARRIAGE IN MODERN TIMES (IN THE WEST) ACTUALLY OCCURRED AT THE TIME OF BETROTHAL
AMONG THE HEBREWS IN ANCIENT TIMES. THE ONLY THING LEFT TO BE DONE (THAT IN HEBREW CULTURE WAS CALLED "MARRIAGE”) WAS WHEN THE BRIDE MOVED INTO THE HOME OF THE GROOM AND THEY CONSUMMATED THEIR UNION (SEX). IT WAS THE NORM THAT AFTER THE FATHER OF THE BRIDE AGREED TO THE FORMAL MARRIAGE CONTRACT, THE WOMAN WAS NOW CALLED "WIFE". EVEN SO, SHE TYPICALLY CONTINUED TO LIVE UNDER HER FATHER'S ROOF FOR ABOUT ANOTHER YEAR.
THE UNION WAS CONSIDERED TO BE SO COMPLETED THAT IF THE BETROTHED HUSBAND WERE TO DIE, THE WOMAN WAS CONSIDERED A WIDOW. SO ESSENTIALLY THE PHYSICAL CONSUMMATION WAS LITTLE MORE THAN A PRIVATE RITUAL. SINCE THE WOMAN WAS ALREADY LEGALLY A "WIFE", THEN CHEATING DURING BETROTHAL WAS ADULTERY
AND NOT MERELY AN INDISCRETION AS IT IS TREATED TODAY IN THE WEST.
SO BEING PREGNANT DURING THE BETROTHAL PERIOD
(WITH JOSEPH CERTAINLY KNOWING IT WASN'T HIS CHILD)
MARY WAS IN DANGER OF BEING EXECUTED. TYPICALLY IF THERE WAS SUFFICIENT CAUSE, A BETROTHED HUSBAND WOULD HAVE GIVEN HIS WIFE A DIVORCE-DOCUMENT TO END A BETROTHAL.
IT CANNOT BE OVERSTATED HOW SERIOUS IT WOULD BE FOR A BETROTHED GIRL LIKE MARY TO BECOME PREGNANT. THE MISHNAH IN THE TRACTATE SANHEDRIN, CALLS FOR 4 KINDS OF DEATH PENALTY TO BE ADMINISTERED IN DESCENDING ORDER OF SERIOUSNESS OF THE OFFENSE: STONING, BURNING, BEHEADING, AND STRANGLING. A MAN WHO HAS SEX WITH A BETROTHED WOMAN IS SUBJECT TO STONING. AFTER THE GIRL MOVES IN WITH HER HUSBAND, SEX BETWEEN THAT GIRL AND ANOTHER MAN BRINGS DEATH BY STRANGLING.
MATTHEW CLEARLY SAYS THAT MARY'S CONCEPTION WAS A WORK OF THE SET-APART SPIRIT. THAT IS, IT WAS MIRACULOUS AND SHE HAD DONE NOTHING WRONG. AND THE PROOF MATTHEW OFFERS IS THAT ALTHOUGH BETROTHED, MARY AND JOSEPH WERE NOT YET LIVING TOGETHER.
SO STRONG WERE HEBREW TRADITIONS IN THE 1ST CENTURY (AND BEFORE) ABOUT HOW THE MARRIAGE PROCESS AND TIMING WORKED, THAT INFIDELITY WOULD HAVE BROUGHT ENORMOUS SHAME UPON THE WOMAN'S FATHER'S HOUSEHOLD AS WELL AS UPON THE BETROTHED COUPLE. SO THE JEWS READING MATTHEW'S STORY WOULD HAVE IMMEDIATELY UNDERSTOOD. IT WOULD ONLY BE AN ISSUE OF WHETHER THEY WOULD BELIEVE MARY WAS PREGNANT BY ALAHIM'S SET-APART SPIRIT OR NOT?
ONE OTHER MATTER IS ALSO CLAIMED AND THEREBY SETTLED. BY JEWISH TRADITION, EVEN THOUGH THE UNBORN CHILD IS NOT JOSEPH'S, HE IS THE LEGAL FATHER. SO THERE IS NO CONFLICT SHOULD YAHUSHA BE CALLED A 'SON OF JOSEPH', FOR ACTUAL BIOLOGICAL RELATIONSHIP IS NOT REQUIRED WHEN THE FATHER OF THE FAMILY ACCEPTS A CHILD AS HIS OWN. SO THE NEXT VERSE SAYS THAT WHEN IT WAS CLEAR THAT HIS BETROTHED WAS PREGNANT, JOSEPH MADE A DECISION NOT TO PURSUE A PUBLIC ACTION BUT TO QUIETLY PUT HER AWAY. THE REASON HE DID THIS IS BECAUSE (DEPENDING ON THE SCRIPTURE VERSION) HE WAS EITHER A 'JUST' OR A 'RIGHTEOUS' MAN.
VERY OFTEN 'JUST' OR 'RIGHTEOUS' IS DEFINED AS BEING 'KIND AND MERCIFUL'. HOWEVER, FOR JEWS 'JUST AND RIGHTEOUS' HELD THE MEANING OF LAW-ABIDING, MEANING BEING OBSERVANT TO THE ONLY LAW THAT MATTERED TO JEWS: THE LAW OF MOSES. HERE IS THE SCRIPTURAL LAW THAT ADDRESSES THIS SITUATION :
DEUTERONOMY 22:23-24
"IF A GIRL WHO IS A VIRGIN IS ENGAGED TO A MAN, AND ANOTHER MAN COMES UPON HER IN THE TOWN AND HAS SEXUAL RELATIONS WITH HER, YOU ARE TO BRING THEM BOTH OUT TO THE GATE OF THE CITY AND STONE THEM TO DEATH- THE GIRL BECAUSE SHE DIDN'T CRY OUT FOR HELP THERE IN THE CITY, AND THE MAN BECAUSE HE HAS HUMILIATED HIS NEIGHBOUR'S WIFE. IN THIS WAY YOU WILL PUT AN END TO THE EVIL AMONG YOU”.
THE VERY PUBLIC NATURE OF AN EXECUTION HELD AT THE CITY GATE WAS TO BRING MAXIMUM SHAME UPON THE CRIMINALS AND THEIR FAMILIES. IT IS DIFFICULT TO EXPLAIN THE EXTREME LEVEL OF TROUBLE THIS BRINGS TO A FAMILY. WE MUST NOT THINK THAT SHAME IS THE SAME AS "ASHAMED" OR "EMBARRASSED" AS WE THINK OF IT TODAY. SHAME WAS (AND REMAINS IN THE MIDDLE EAST) A DETESTED SOCIAL STATUS, (NOT AN EMOTION). HAVING GAINED SUCH AN UNDESIRABLE STATUS, RIDDING ONESELF OR ONE'S FAMILY OF IT WAS VERY DIFFICULT AND IT DOMINATED THAT FAMILY'S DAILY LIFE. BEING SHUNNED BY MOST OF THE COMMUNITY WAS BUT THE BEGINNING. OFTEN THE ONLY WAY TO ATONE FOR FAMILY SHAME AND REGAIN FAMILY HONOR WAS TO TAKE REVENGE ON THE ONE WHO CAUSED IT. THIS COULD GO ON FOR YEARS AND FOR GENERATIONS.
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19. So Joseph (being good, righteous and obedient) didn’t want to cause Mary any public disgrace, shame or embarrassment, so he planned to divorce her secretly.
JOSEPH'S LOVE
SO JOSEPH DECIDED NOT TO ACCUSE HIS BETROTHED OF MARITAL INFIDELITY, THE REMEDY BEING TO `OUT' HER PUBLICLY AND TO SHAME HER PUBLICLY IN ORDER TO AVOID HIMSELF BEING SHAMED. RATHER HE WOULD QUIETLY GIVE A LETTER OF DIVORCE TO MARY’S FATHER (SHE WAS STILL LIVING AT HOME) AND END THE BETROTHAL, HANDLING THE MATTER DISCREETLY AND PRIVATELY. WHILE ONE OF THE SEVERAL PURPOSES OF YAHUSHA'S SPEECHES WAS TO TEACH THE JEWISH PEOPLE THAT WHILE THE TORAH WAS RIGHT AND GOOD BEHAVIOUR,
DOING OBEDIENCE MECHANICALLY OR WOODENLY, WITHOUT LOVE AND WITHOUT UNDERSTANDING THE SPIRIT OF THE ENTIRE TORAH LAWS, ACTUALLY PERVERTED IT! THIS IS WHY WHEN HE WAS FAMOUSLY ASKED WHAT THE MOST IMPORTANT OF THE TORAH LAWS WERE, YAHUSHA QUOTED AND SUMMARISED ALL THE COMMANDS, USING `THE SHEMA’ FOUND IN
DEUTERONOMY 6.
“AND YOU ARE TO LOVE YAHUAH YOUR ALAHIM WITH ALL YOUR HEART, ALL YOUR BEING AND ALL YOUR STRENGTH”.
BUT YAHUSHA ALSO INCLUDED:
LEVITICUS 19:18
“DON'T TAKE VENGEANCE ON OR BEAR A GRUDGE AGAINST ANY OF YOUR PEOPLE; RATHER, LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOUR AS YOURSELF, FOR I AM YAHUAH.
JOSEPH UNDERSTOOD THE ROYAL SPIRIT WITHIN THE LAW OF MOSES, AND KNEW THAT EVEN IN THIS GUT-WRENCHING CIRCUMSTANCE HE WAS TO ACT IN LOVE AND NOT VENGEANCE… EVEN THOUGH HE WAS TO OBEY THE TORAH. SO HE RISKED HIS OWN REPUTATION AND HAVING SHAME BEING BROUGHT UPON HIMSELF ON ACCOUNT OF HIS BETROTHED WIFE BEING PREGNANT WITHOUT ANY BELIEVABLE EXPLANATION. HE BEHAVED EXACTLY HOW YAHUSHA WANTS US TO BEHAVE TODAY. NOT BY IGNORING YAHUSHA’S WORD OR COMMANDS, AND NOT BY APPLYING OUR OWN SENSE OF MERCY OR JUSTICE TO ANY GIVEN SITUATION. BUT RATHER BY DOING THE TWO ROYAL COMMANDMENTS OF LOVE.
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19. So Joseph (being good, righteous and obedient) didn’t want to cause Mary any public disgrace, shame or embarrassment, so he planned to divorce her secretly.
20. But no sooner had Joseph thought about this, that an Angel of Yahuah came to him in a dream, saying “Joseph, son of David, don’t be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child inside her has been conceived by the set-apart Spirit. 21. She will give birth to a Son, and you will Name Him YAHUSHA (meaning ‘I Am your Deliverance’). So make sure you give Him that Name because He will deliver His people from their sins.”
JOSEPH'S BELIEF
IN A DREAM THE ANGEL BROUGHT JOSEPH A MESSAGE THAT HAD TO BE TROUBLING IN ITSELF. IN YAHUSHA'S DAY AND IN EARLIER TIMES, DIVINE REVELATIONS GIVEN IN DREAMS WERE WELL ACCEPTED AND NOT PARTICULARLY UNUSUAL. WE READ OF THEM IN GENESIS AND IN DANIEL. WE HEAR ABOUT THEM IN RELATION TO JOB. IT IS MODERN SKEPTICISM (AND YAHUSHA WITHOLDING) THAT SHUTS THE DOOR TO THEM IN OUR TIME, HOWEVER THERE IS SCRIPTURAL EVIDENCE THAT WE ARE CURRENTLY IN AN ERA OF DREAMS, VISIONS, AND PROPHESYING (AS ACTS SAYS).
JOSEPH WAS STILL DECIDING WHAT TO DO, WHEN THE ANGEL TELLS HIM NOT TO INTERRUPT THE MARITAL PROCESS BUT RATHER TO CONTINUE ON, BECAUSE MARY IS INNOCENT. SHE HAS CONCEIVED A SON BY MEANS OF ALAHIM'S SPIRIT. JOSEPH'S FIRST THOUGHT WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN HOW THAT WAS SCIENTIFICALLY IMPOSSIBLE (AS IT IS TODAY), BUT RATHER WHAT THE MEANING OF SUCH AN AMAZING THING WOULD BE. THEREFORE THE MESSENGER TELLS HIM WHAT THIS CHILD WILL DO AND THAT IT SHALL BE REFLECTED IN THE CHILD'S
NAME : YAHUSHA, WHICH MEANS (I AM YOUR DELIVERANCE).
SO THE REASON FOR YAHUSHA'S NAME IS BECAUSE HE IS GOING TO DELIVER PEOPLE FROM THEIR SINS. BUT THE JEWS UNIVERSALLY BELIEVED THAT THE HOPED-FOR MESSIAH WOULD DELIVER THEM FROM THE OPPRESSION OF ROME. THE MORE SPIRITUAL NATURE OF THE TERM AS MEANING DELIVERANCE FROM SINS HAD TO DO WITH BEING HEALED FROM SICKNESS.
THEY DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT GERMS OR VIRUSES SO SICKNESS WAS MOSTLY SEEN AS PUNISHMENTS FROM ALAHIM, AND IN YISHARAL IT WAS SEEN AS DIVINE CONSEQUENCES FOR DISOBEDIENCE TO YAHUAH..... SINNING.... MEANING TO BREAK THE LAWS OF MOSES.
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22. All this happened to fulfill what Alahim had said through the Prophet: 23. “The virgin will be pregnant and will give birth to a Son, and they will name Him Emmanual (meaning “Alahim is with us.”)
OLD COVENANT
CONNECTION
LET'S BRING ALL THAT MARY AND JOSEPH ARE GOING THROUGH INTO A HEAVENLY ORIENTATION AS OPPOSED TO AN EARTHLY PERSPECTIVE.
THAT IS, DESPITE THE TERRIBLY DIFFICULT CIRCUMSTANCES THAT THE COUPLE ARE FACING, THERE IS A REASON FOR IT THAT GOES WELL BEYOND THEIR WANTS AND NEEDS. IT IS BECAUSE ALAHIM, THROUGH HIS PROPHETS, PROPHESIED THAT THE MESSIAH WOULD COME INTO THE WORLD IN JUST THIS WAY. AND THE PRECISE PROPHECY FROM 700 YEARS EARLIER IS QUOTED OUT OF THE BOOK OF ISAIAH.
ISAIAH 7:14
"THEREFORE YAHUAH HIMSELF WILL GIVE YOU PEOPLE A SIGN: THE YOUNG WOMAN WILL BECOME PREGNANT, BEAR A SON AND NAME HIM 'EMMANUAL’ [ALAHIM IS WITH US].
THIS DIRECTLY CONNECTS THE OLD BLOOD-COVENANT TO MARY'S PREGNANCY. INFACT YAHUSHA'S BIRTH, LIFE, DEATH AND RESURRECTION ARE ALL FORETOLD IN THE OLD SCRIPTURES, SO IN THE NEW BLOOD-COVENANT WE HAVE THE RECORD OF THE OLD PROPHECIES COMING TO FRUITION.
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24. So when Joseph woke up, he did what the Angel of Alahim told him, and straight-away married Mary. 25. But Joseph did not ‘know her’ (have sex with her) until she gave birth to their firstborn son. And he named Him YAHUSHA.
HEAR & OBEY
JOSEPH NOT ONLY HEARD BUT ALSO ACTED UPON THE INSTRUCTIONS WITHIN HIS DREAM. THIS IS THE VERY DEFINITION OF THE HEBREW CONCEPT OF SHEMA.... HEARING AND OBEYING.... IE TRUST/BELIEF. DESPITE FULL KNOWLEDGE BY JOSEPH THAT THIS CHILD WAS NOT OF HIS SEED, HE FULLY ACCEPTED YAHUSHA AS HIS SON. THIS IS IMPORTANT BECAUSE SINCE JOSEPH IS IN THE ROYAL LINE OF DAVID, THEN YAHUSHA INHERITS THE RIGHT TO THE THRONE FROM HIS LEGAL (BUT NOT BIOLOGICAL) FATHER JOSEPH.
SO IN THE END JOSEPH DID NOT ISSUE MARY A DIVORCE. RATHER, LIKELY SOMEWHAT SOONER THAN CUSTOMARY, HE HURRIED TO COMPLETE THE BETROTHAL PERIOD BY HAVING HER MOVE IN WITH HIM. YET...... THE CONSUMMATION OF THE UNION WAS POSTPONED.
CONCLUSION:
MATTHEW'S PURPOSE WAS EXPRESSLY TO BEGIN HIS GOSPEL BY EXPLAINING WHO YAHUSHA IS. HE IS THE MESSIAH, SON OF DAVID, SON OF ABRAHAM, BROUGHT INTO THIS WORLD BY AN OTHERWISE NON-DESCRIPT, UNIMPORTANT COUNTRY GIRL. HIS UNIQUE CONCEPTION WAS A DIRECT WORK OF ALAHIM AND NO ONE ELSE. EVEN YAHUSHA'S NAME SAYS WHAT HE WILL DO.
EVERY MARITAL ARGUMENT USUALLY STEMS FROM EITHER SEX OR MONEY, SO FOR A BOMB LIKE ADULTERY (BREAKING WEDLOCK) BEING DROPPED ON THIS COUPLE SO EARLY IN THEIR RELATIONSHIP, JOSEPH SHOWS A TRUE BEHAVIOUR OF SCRIPTURAL LOVE FOR HIS WIFE … COVERING HER SIN/CRIME WITH LOVE (EVEN THOUGH SHE WAS INNOCENT) BY DECIDING TO DITCH HER QUIETLY … UNTIL ALAHIM INFORMS HIM OF THE TRUE PLAN … WHICH JOSEPH THEN HEARS, TRUSTS IN, ACTS UPON IN OBEDIENCE AND RAISES A CHILD (TECHNICALLY NOT HIS) IN THE WAYS OF RIGHTEOUS LIVING … FOR THE PURPOSE OF ULTIMATE DELIVERANCE …. CAN WE GO THERE FOR OUR WIVES, CHILDREN, FRIENDS, NEIGHBOURS, BROTHERS AND SISTERS? …. CAN WE LET YAHUSHA'S LOVE REIGN WITHIN US AS YAHUSHA DESIRES? …. THIS IS THE MATURITY THAT MATTHEW'S ACCOUNT OF JOSEPH TELLS US ...
SO JOSEPH IS NOT JUST SOME SCHMUCK WHO PLAYS SECOND-FIDDLE TO MARY THE MOTHER OF YAHUSHA IN THIS ACCOUNT - FOR HIS LOVING-BEHAVIOUR IS THE REAL ESSENCE AND CORE OF THE STORY :