When you read the genealogy of Jesus Christ in Matthew 1, you find the names of five women, four of whom have very questionable credentials: Tamar committed incest with her father-in-law (Gen. 38); Rahab was a Gentile harlot (Josh. 2:1); Ruth was an outcast Gentile Moabitess (Ruth 1:4–5); and “the wife of Uriah” was an adulteress (2 Sam. 11:2–4). How did they ever become a part of the family of the Messiah? Through the sovereign grace and mercy of God! God is “longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9 NKJV). (Mary is the
...more
