Hebrews Chapter Seven, Descent From Judah

 

Hebrews 7:13 For He of whom these things are spoken belongs to another tribe, from which no man has officiated at the altar. [14] For it is evident that our Lord arose from Judah, of which tribe Moses spoke nothing concerning priesthood.

 

The writer pauses here to briefly assert Jesus’ biological ancestry. Verse 13 is simply a tacit admission that Levi was the priestly tribe, and no other tribe was permitted by God to serve at the altar. Mind you, this didn’t stop northern Samaria from doing just that when Jeroboam broke from Israel and led ten of the twelve tribes into rebellion against the house of David.

We learn of Jeroboam’s tactics to subvert the worship of Yahweh and loyalty to David’s house, “He made shrines on the high places, and made priests from every class of people, who were not of the sons of Levi,” 1 Kings 12:31. God sent a prophet to Jeroboam to rebuke him for his idolatry, letting him (and us) know that if we do not approach Him on His terms we cannot approach at all, 1 Kings 13:2.

 

On a smaller scale there was also King Uzziah of Judah. Being crowned king at 16, Uzziah reigned 52 years: one of the longest reigns of the kings in Judah’s history. However, being puffed up with pride and trying to receive more honor than just being king, he attempted to minister as one of the priests in the temple, offering incense, 2 Chronicles 26:16. He was rebuked, not by a prophet this time, but by Azariah the chief (or high) priest, and then hurriedly ushered out when God struck the king with leprosy for his transgression, 2 Chronicles 26:19. Uzziah remained a leper until his death, and Jotham his son reigned as regent until his demise, 2 Kings 15:5. God’s rejection of Uzziah spoke volumes. He was made leprous and cut off from the Lord’s house, being perpetually ceremonially unclean.

 

No man officiated at the altar apart from Levi. Yet the author insists that the things he addresses are directed at a person who is not, by blood, descended from Levi. The author pleads here Jesus’ earthly pedigree, so here it is wise to pause and consider it. While many verses may be quoted in defense of Jesus’ miraculous advent, we will isolate three as the prophets revealed them to demonstrate the genealogical descent that culminated with our Lord’s birth in Bethlehem.

 

#1: Genesis 49:10, “The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh comes; and to Him shall be the obedience of the people.” This verse explains that Judah will produce Israel’s kings. This will culminate, Jacob attests, with Shiloh, who inherits the ruling scepter and the peoples’ obedience. Verse 11 states that He shall bind his donkey and its colt to the choice vine (symbolic of Israel, see Isaiah 5:2, 7) and have His garments washed in the blood of grapes, treading God’s winepress as King, see Isaiah 63:1-6 and Zechariah 9:9, 10.

 

#2: Micah 5:2, “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall come forth to Me the One to be Ruler in Israel, whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting.” God, demonstrating His divine superintendence and foreknowledge, elects Bethlehem as the city where David’s heir will be born. But more than being David’s heir, this One is from of old, even from everlasting. He is, if language holds meaning, eternal by Micah’s description. In verse 3 this One will give up His people until a set time when she who is in labor shall give birth; Jesus described this time in Matthew 23:37-39 and Luke 19:41-44. Verse 4 and the beginning of verse 5 detail how this same One will shepherd Israel and in the strength of Yahweh, and He will be peace. Note how verse 5 does not say He will bring peace, but will BE peace, since He is also the Prince of Peace. See Ezekiel 34:11-31 also.

 

#3: Isaiah 11:1, “There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots.” Unreservedly a Messianic passage, chapter 11 extols the virtue and power of the Coming One who will usher in the Kingdom, see verses 4 and 10. Jesse, of course, is King David’s father, 1 Samuel 16:11. In the same chapter we learn that Jesse is referred to as, “the Bethlehemite,” an ethnicity recognized in Israel as belonging to those who dwelt in Bethlehem of Judah, 1 Samuel 16:1. Even here, co-mingled with Zechariah 6:12, we may see the likeness of the king-priest Melchizedek, from whose order Jesus receives His priesthood. Joshua symbolically represents the Christ as priest, while Isaiah chapter 11 clearly describes the Messiah as ruler of the nations, in that he shall strike the earth with the rod of His mouth and the Gentiles will seek Him again, Isaiah 11:4, 10.

 

In the New Testament gospel narratives we find that both Matthew and Luke take pains to trace the Christ’s lineage. Matthew, writing to the Jews to show that Jesus was David’s rightful heir, begins with Abraham, who begot Judah by the fourth generation, Matthew 1:2. Through Judah came David and Solomon, who was a type of Him who was to come, Matthew 1:6. Eventually the list reaches Joseph, the legitimate heir from David’s direct descent, Matthew 1:16. Christ is the stepson of Joseph, King David’s rightful heir. The Jews, who cherish their genealogies, would value having the Christ’s lineage traced to demonstrate authoritative right of succession.

 

Luke, who wrote to the Greeks, began in reverse order with Jesus Himself. The list showcases severe variations from the name listings beginning after David, Luke 3:31, Matthew 1:6. The lineage of David’s direct descent leading from Solomon to Josiah, and then to Jeconiah bore with it a curse because of Jeconiah’s wickedness. “Thus says the Lord: ‘Write this man down as childless, a man who shall not prosper in his days; for none of his descendants shall prosper, sitting on the throne of David, and ruling anymore in Judah,” Jeremiah 22:30. To accentuate this statement, the ESV renders it, “for none of his offspring shall succeed in sitting on the throne of David and ruling again in Jerusalem.” The NIV gives us, “for none of his offspring will prosper, none will sit on the throne of David or rule anymore in Judah.”

 

The royal lineage suffered a malediction from God, forbidding accession to the throne of Israel. Thus we find in Luke a genealogy derived from Mary’s lineage. Joseph is mentioned because the lineage takes into account the father begetting an heir. Since Joseph’s father is listed as Jacob in Matthew 1:16 we can reasonably reach the conclusion that Heli of Luke 3:23 is Joseph’s father in law. This is the cause for the difference in names leading to David. Joseph hailed from Solomon’s family branch, while Mary descended from Nathan’s, Luke 3:31. Luke takes Jesus’ ancestry beyond Abraham, however. The list of patriarchs includes Shem, Noah, Methuselah, Enoch, and Adam. Since Luke traces our Lord’s lineage back to Adam, the first man, we must conclude that the Genesis account is a historical narrative of the creation of the material universe, including our first parent who was the first link in the descent to Messiah, see Luke 3:38. This simple list of names, concluding with God Himself, demonstrates God’s intentions to produce Messiah at the proper time, and where He ordained Him to be. If Christ is not descended from Adam then His ancestry (and claim to Judah’s scepter) is a falsehood innocently or deliberately perpetrated by men who sought to beguile the gullible. Scripture is given to comfort us with facts and truths meant to enlighten, not obfuscate. Thus we read that Mary’s lineage from Heli to Nathan, and then to David, also claims royal blood and credence to the credibility of our Lord’s claim to Judah’s throne.

 

A short pursuit in the genealogy of the Christ, coupled with Moses’ mute witness of Judah or any other tribe officiating at the altar conspire to reveal that as far as the Aaronic priesthood was concerned, that is, the priesthood given Israel under command of the Law, only Levi possessed this honor. On earth God had many priests. But all things earthly are temporal; while the heavenly things, the invisible reality that gives life and explains thought and emotion, are eternal, 2 Corinthians 4:18.