by Bruce Talbert

If you’re like me, when you come across passages like this you either skim them or skip them altogether! The names are hard to pronounce and oftentimes we’re left wondering “Why is this here?” I wish I could answer that question for you, but quite honestly I can only give you a partial answer. Perhaps the difficult names are included for either positive or negative recognition. Of course the list of names in Matthew which ends with Jesus is there so we can trace back His lineage, which validates what the prophets foretold. So where is God in the ordinary of this passage?

Again I can only offer a partial answer, but I definitely see God in verse 20, which reads “the people of Judah and Israel were as numerous as the sand on the seashore.” Remember the promise God gave to Abraham, that his descendents would be as many as the sand on the seashore? Several hundred years later in a story about the great King Solomon this little nugget is offered. If my wife sends me to the grocery store for three or four items, I have to have a list; otherwise I’ll forget at least one thing. Typically this is because either I did not listen close enough when she was telling me what to get, or because I became distracted by my own hunger when passing the bakery aisle! But how many distractions did God have, from the time he made the promise to Abraham until the writing of this passage? Just to name a few, you could include Moses and the children of Israel leaving Egypt, Joseph, Sampson, Ruth, King Saul, and King David. But God does not become distracted through events, nor does he forget what He promises. I know this intellectually, but this is hard to put into practice when His timetable is not as swift as mine might be. It is great comfort when we think about God’s faithfulness to us when everything is going well in our lives, but how difficult and trying it is when a crisis suddenly happens. During these times we must recall God’s loyalty to His followers in times past and in our own experiences. We must wait on Him and rest in His love, knowing He will never leave us nor forsake us. May we be encouraged by this when difficult times come.

Your fellow traveler,
Bruce