But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law … - Galatians 4:4

Today's Scripture Reading (February 27, 2021): Galatians 4

Matthew lied. Yeah, the author of the first Gospel. At least by contemporary standards, the first words that Matthew wrote down in his Gospel are untrue. Matthew begins his Gospel with a genealogy, and the genealogy is wrong. And to top it all off, it looks like that Matthew purposefully messed it up.

So, what is wrong with the genealogy? Part of the problem is Matthew's assertion that "Jehoram [was the] the father of Uzziah" (Matthew 1:8). Yes, Jehoram is an ancestor of Uzziah, but not his father. Jehoram is actually the great, great grandfather of Uzziah. Jehoram lived from 882 B.C.E. to 842 B.C.E. Uzziah was born in 799 B.C.E., over forty years after the death of Jehoram. Three kings are missing between Jehoram and Uzziah; Ahaziah, Jehoash, and Amaziah.

The second problem is that it appears that Jeconiah is counted twice. "And Josiah [was the] the father of Jeconiah and his brothers at the time of the exile to Babylon. After the exile to Babylon: Jeconiah was the father of Shealtiel" (Matthew 1:11-12). Jeconiah is counted both in the lineage from David to the Babylon Exile as well as in the line from the Babylonian exile to the birth of Jesus Christ. None of this would really matter if it weren't for this statement, which follows the genealogy "Thus there were fourteen generations in all from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the exile to Babylon, and fourteen from the exile to the Messiah" (Matthew 1:17). Except that that is just not true. At best, Matthew was wrong.

Well, okay. Not really. It is part of the problem with understanding a written document that originated almost two thousand years ago. Matthew wasn't interested in counting generations; he wanted to send his readers an important message. And to understand that message, we have to dissect the number "fourteen." Seven was considered to be the perfect number. It was the number of the days of creation, which included the Sabbath. Seven indicated completeness. And fourteen is the double of seven.

Understanding what Matthew saw in the number fourteen allows us to understand the apostle's message. The message that Matthew wanted to send his readers is that when the time was complete, God moved significantly in the midst of the Jewish people. When the time was complete, the reign of King David began. When the time was complete, the Babylon exile began. And when the time was complete, Jesus was born to Mary. This is Matthew's message, and it has nothing to do with the number of literal generations between one event and another. Matthew's original Jewish audience would have understood that, but we miss it.

But Paul understood Matthew's message and restated it to make it clear to the Galatian church. When the set time had fully come [when the time was complete], God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law (Galatians 4:4).

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Galatians 5