LIVING WATERS
For the proclamation of the Gospel and the edification of the Body of Christ
Tasters from the King's Table
Five women
Five women appear in the genealogy of the Lord Jesus Christ found in Mathew chapter 1, and each one of them has her own history.
The first one is Tamar, who had the misfortune of losing two husbands. Both were sons of Judah, the patriarch. They lost their lives for being wicked. Then, she managed, by means of a trick, to conceive Perez from Judah, who was her own father-in-law. It was through Perez that the genealogical line of the Lord followed.
The second one is Rahab, the harlot from Jericho. In Hebrews 11, the hall of faith, she has a position that not even Joshua, one of her contemporaries, has. She received the Hebrew spies and hid them. It was by her faith that she and her family were spared from the destruction of the city.
The third one is Ruth, the Moabitess. She was an exemplary woman, for she left her homeland and her kin to become a member of God’s people. She was faithful to Naomi, her mother-in-law, and she was united to Boaz in an honorable and happy marriage. He also was an exemplary biblical character.
The fourth one is Bathsheba, Uriah's wife and mother of Solomon. She was a beautiful woman, but she was not so discreet. While she was taking a bath in her flat roof, she provoked King David. He tried to have her for his own so badly that he gave orders to kill Uriah, one of his mighty men.
The fifth one is Mary, the Nazarene. She is the most blessed woman on earth. She was more blessed than Hannah, Samuel's mother; more than Jochebed, Moses' mother; more than Elisabeth, mother of John the Baptist, who was the greatest prophet. However, she was a modest woman from a small town of Galilee. She embraced the Blessed One, and her breast fed the One who came to save the world.
In that genealogy, 42 women are involved, but only five are mentioned. Among them there are three long-suffering Gentiles. One of them was an occupational prostitute; another one was an occasional prostitute. In short, all of them were women that a king would never have neither chosen nor mentioned in his genealogy.
But the Lord had mercy on such type of people. He, who is not ashamed of calling us brethren, or of having been born as a proscribed one, chose these five women so that they were part of His special family.