Matt. 1:1-3 cont. (A Bible Study)
I’d like to continue the previous Bible study about Judah’s family (vs. 3) in the lineage of Jesus. This passage of scripture from Matthew doesn’t give the background about the birth of their twin children Zerah and Perez, but you may read the full story in Genesis 38.
Tamar was pregnant with twins by Judah. When it was time for the twins to be born, it was actually Zerah who stuck his hand out first and would have been considered the firstborn, but he withdrew his hand and Perez was born first (the midwives knew this because when Zerah stuck his hand out, the nurse tied a scarlet thread around his wrist to signify that he was the firstborn).
Perez beat him to the draw and became King David’s and ultimately Jesus’ direct ancestor. Perez’s name means ‘breach or breakthrough’ and Zerah means ‘dawn or rising’. These baby boys seemed to be fighting with one another for the right to appear in the lineage of Israel’s greatest king (King David) and more importantly to become the ancestor of Jesus, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
Do you recall another set of twins who fought for the same honor of claiming the status of ‘firstborn’? Genesis 25 recounts the story of how Esau was born first, but Jacob then came out grasping Esau’s heel as though he were trying to pull him back into the womb so that he could be born first.
(Now, of course these babies would not have had the wherewithal to discern their lineage or anything else; however, God chose to add the facts surrounding their births in His Word. So, if these facts were significant enough that He added them to the canonized scriptures, then I believe, we ought to give them the credence due by pondering the possibilities of what God is trying to show us by doing so.)
Please feel free to share your thoughts on this in the comments section below.
Meanwhile, I want to share my thoughts. I believe these examples may reveal that God desires to use people who have a real passion to live significant lives. Jacob did not win the initial fight with Esau, for Esau was indeed born first and inherited the birthright. However, Jacob coveted that birthright so passionately that he finally conned his brother out of his inheritance. Not that that was a good or noble thing mind you, but it did reveal his passion to inherit the status of the first born.
The Bible says in Romans 9:13 that God loved Jacob, but hated (or rejected) Esau. I believe that God rejected Esau and loved Jacob because Esau thought so little of his birthright that he sold it for a bowl of stew (Gen. 25:30). He gave it away to satisfy a momentary, temporary desire. I wonder what he thought afterward, full-bellied, burping and wiping away the last drop of soup dribbling down his chin. “You idiot, what have you done???” comes to mind.
As Christians, the birthright is still significant for us today because we have inherited Jesus’s own birthright as the Son of God. We through Him have inherited the right to become sons and daughters of God.
Romans 8:17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ…”
Perez broke through (as his name suggests) and won the right to become a descendant of Jesus Christ. And even though little Perez was none the wiser, perhaps God used his birth to reveal to us that He doesn’t always choose the first in line or even the most obvious choice, but the one who’s the most passionate about Him.
We, my friends, must fight that same fight every day to stay zealous about our birthright as God’s own adopted children. We must cherish it as our number one priority in this life and value it above all else that this world has to offer.
We are not struggling to be first in some pious competition with one another, but our battle is with Satan who would love nothing more than to steal the joy of our salvation and render us passionless and useless for the Kingdom.
If we will passionately pursue and value our relationship with Christ above all, then we too can begin to live the significant, God honoring, purposeful life that He wants for all of His children.
