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Commentaries
English
Matthew
  
17So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations, from David until the captivity in Babylon are fourteen generations, and from the captivity in Babylon until the Christ are fourteen generations. (See Luke3:23-38)


Fourteen is composed of (2 X 7). Also seven is equal to (3 + 4). The number 3 refers to the triune godhead, and the number 4 represents the four universe directions; therefore heaven and earth have been linked with number 7 in the development of history. Yet when number 7 is repeated again to become 14, this means the completion of the divine historical development of our world. This appears in two quotations that give evidence to God and his work in our present life.
These periods of fourteen years appeared three times. Matthew saw that they foretold the coming of Christ according to God’s timing. It also informed of the dwelling of the kingdom of heaven on earth. Matthew takes interest in mentioning the lineage of kings and these few historical details because he saw God’s great designs for salvation in them.
The Lord chose Abraham and made him the beginning of a great nation of which David became the summit. The collapse started with Solomon, and the political state was divided at the time of Rehoboam, his son. Then the northern kingdom was exterminated, and the Jews were taken captive to Babylon.
The Jews who came back from captivity realized from God’s school of chastening that God’s purpose for the repentant was not authority, weapons and comfort, but a holy life according to the Law of Moses, that they might become holy and royal people in humility and truth.
This school of brokenness did not produce the same thinking in people. The zealous objected to God and to his crushing them and they determined to build up a glorious nation at any cost. The Pharisees, however, attempted to fulfill the law through their own diligence and they became proud and boastful. A small number of the Jews understood their inability to lead a holy life, so they lived in repentance and brokenness before God, waiting with the tears of repentance for the coming Messiah. At the time of Jesus, the Jews did not see events that indicated the coming of the great savior of their nation who would redeem and bless the whole world. However Matthew, the evangelist, observed the absolute proof in the course of history that Jesus was the promised Christ of God.

Prayer
I glorify you, my Holy and Almighty God, because you prepared from ages past for the coming of your Son, and employed the fathers, the kings and the prophets to prepare his way. You were not ashamed to include captives and adulterers into the genealogy of your Son. Thank you that I too may be sanctified in faith and become the fruit of the redemptive work of your Son. May my life reflect the goodness of his Spirit, giving you praise and bringing you glory.
Question
What does the chronological order of the genealogy of Jesus indicate?