The Family Tree of Jesus: The Master List That Leads to the Master

by Curt D. Baker

Overview

Are the Old and New Testament accounts of Jesus’ lineage contradictory or complimentary?

Is the family tree of Jesus a calendar, and what may it tell us about our own generation?

Why was Adam old at 900, Abraham old at 150, and David an old man at only 70?

How long is a Biblical “generation”, and exactly when was Jesus born?

Is there historical proof of Jesus’ resurrection?

“The Family Tree of Jesus” explores these questions, and much more.

Within these pages:

Astonishing facts and numerical properties about the lineage of Jesus.

Historical and archaeological proofs that substantiate the Bible’s accuracy.

Biographies of over 150 real men and women in Jesus’ genealogy all the way back to Adam.

Irrefutable evidence that Jesus of Nazareth was exactly Who He claimed to be according to the prophecies concerning Him -- the Messiah Whose coming was predicted 40 centuries before His birth.

“The Family Tree of Jesus” is a 4000-year journey of discovery:

The master list that leads to the Master

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781475977271
Publisher:	iUniverse, Incorporated
Publication date:	03/12/2013
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	330
File size:	6 MB

Read an Excerpt

The Family Tree of Jesus

The Master List That Leads to the Master

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By Curt D. Baker

iUniverse, Inc.

Copyright © 2013 Curt D. Baker
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4759-7728-8

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Excerpt

CHAPTER 1

The Seed of an Idea

The white lines on the rural northern Illinois blacktop zipped past my eyes one by one as I neared the farm house where my dear friends, Chuck and Pauline Meurer, awaited my arrival. It was a Monday evening. As their home came into view, the feeling of expectancy and exhilaration rose within me as it predictably had done so many times before. I had always looked forward to these men's small group Bible studies because of the three elements that were reliably served at that farm home kitchen table: The Word of God, a genuine bond of love and friendship, and Pauline's fantastic taste sensations set before us at the conclusion of the meetings.

One thing that would always put a smile on my face even before entering the house was the familiar sign situated across from the garage. The words "the smell of money" greeted everyone who entered that driveway. Its purpose was twofold: first, that on no uncertain terms you were entering a hog farm; secondly, it served as a small reminder of their ever-present and gracious good humor.

Bible in hand, I approached the front door as I had many times before. Greeted with the usual broad smile and warm hugs, I sipped my piping hot "Russian tea" Pauline had set before me as we enjoyed some quality time and waited for other members of the group to arrive. During the conversation, I was pleased to learn that the topic of study over the next few meetings would be about the genealogy that proceeded from Adam. Since the study of Bible history had always been of great interest to me, I eagerly looked forward to diving into what Chuck had prepared for us that evening.

With everyone present and ready to get started, Chuck immediately directed us to Genesis chapter four:

"And Adam knew Eve as his wife, and she became pregnant and bore Cain; and she said, I have gotten and gained a man with the help of the Lord. And [next] she gave birth to his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground" (Genesis 4:1-2).

Adam and Eve had begun the first family tree in the history of humanity. It didn't take long, however, for them to become what we call today a dysfunctional family.

"And Cain said to his brother; Let us go out into the field. And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against Abel his brother and killed him" (Genesis 4:8).

This first family tree wasn't off to a very good start. In fact, all but the last two verses of Genesis chapter four tells the story of Cain's own offspring. One in particular, Cain's great- great-great grandson named Lamech, evidently inherited his father's murderous temper. In Genesis 4:23 he admits to his wives,

"I have slain a man [merely] for wounding me, and a young man [only] for striking and bruising me."

Bear in mind that these two victims were also his relatives, which brings up an interesting point. Who was Cain's wife, and who did all these people marry to produce the offspring mentioned? According to The Holy Bible with a Commentary, it would have been possible for Adam and Eve, in the more than 100 years estimated that may have elapsed since their union, to have had over 32,000 descendants at the time Cain went to Nod [Genesis 4:16] --- all of them having sprung from Cain and Abel, who married their sisters."

At any rate, I immediately became fascinated with this introduction to the biblical study of humanity's early lineage. Despite the obvious character flaws of Cain and his offspring, I found myself jotting down a crude chart based on Genesis chapter four that give some details about his family tree. A careful reading reveals that a total of 13 people are listed, 12 of whom are mentioned by name. My chart looked like this:

This little chart of Cain's family wasn't especially impressive, because it's simple to put together a family tree that consists of only 13 people. Nonetheless, looking at even a modest diagram like the one before me provided a better structure at-a-glance of how his family tree was formed and the relationships of each person to another.

Having done with Cain and his rather inglorious family, we moved on to Genesis 4:25 that set the stage for a more detailed list of the next segment of our Bible study that evening.

"And Adam's wife again became pregnant, and she bore a son and called his name Seth. For God, she said, has appointed for me another child instead of Abel, for Cain slew him."

This took the genealogy in another direction, as recorded in the first few verses of chapter five. Watch for the key words (emphases are mine).

Verse one: "This is the book (the written record, the history) of the generations of the offspring of Adam. When God created man, He made him in the likeness of God."

Verse three: "When Adam had lived 130 years, he had a son in his own likeness, after his image, and named him Seth."

God had created Adam in His own likeness (Genesis 1:26), and Seth was a man in the likeness of his father Adam. Whether this likeness was one of stature or of character is unknown, but the Bible says it was real nonetheless. Even more significantly, Seth was the seed/offspring of Adam that would inevitably lead to the Seed/Offspring of Eve (Christ the Messiah) predicted in Genesis 3:15.

Now fixed on the lineage through which the saving Messiah would come, the remainder of chapter five devotes itself to the genealogy all the way down to Noah and his first three sons. What is interesting about chapter five is that it even lists the age of each person at the time the next in line was born.

Having gotten through chapter five, it was time to call it an evening. Before going home, of course, we were served one of Pauline's wonderful dishes she had prepared for us that night. I don't recall what it was that evening, but I can tell you without a doubt that it was delicious.

During that next week, I kept coming back to that chapter and looking at it time and again. As the week passed and the night for the next meeting approached, I decided to make a chart of this genealogy as well. It was more detailed than the one of Cain I had scribbled out before, and I thought it would be a good idea to create something visual for everyone to see at the next gathering a few days later. So I did, and it looked like the chart below.

(Once again, as in all charts throughout this book, the passage of time proceeds from the bottom up)

As pleased as I was with this second chart I had made, Chuck produced an even better graphic that showed the overlapping dates as each person's life was detailed. Upon seeing this, I was really getting hooked on an idea that had grown in one week from a small seed into a full scale tree—and announced that I was going to attempt a complete a detailed genealogy from Adam all the way to Jesus Christ as recorded in the Bible. The idea was met with enthusiasm, and the more I thought about it the more determined I became to get it started. Going back to the chapters we had just gone over the past week, however, I very quickly realized that this was going to be no easy task. For example, the Lamech and Enoch in Genesis chapter four were not the same Lamech and Enoch in chapter five. They were obviously different people with the same names, and I quickly realized that putting this genealogy together correctly would be something like trying to find one's way out of a cave with many passageways. All but one of them will look promising for awhile, but ultimately will bring you to a dead end. There is only one way out, and I remember thinking of this as a fitting analogy: Just as there is only one path that leads the way out of the cave, there is only one path that leads to salvation—Jesus Christ (John 10:6). As far as isolating the succession of individuals in the family tree of Jesus from the sea of names that look and sound alike, I would have to take great care to follow the right path from Adam to Jesus that delicately weaves its way through the ages. I never would have realized that evening that in the genealogy of Jesus I would eventually discover three Josephs, plus one "Josech" that is another form of the same name. There are two people named Mattathias, and three people named Eliakim. One of them was also called Jehoiakim. There are two people named Matthat, not to be confused with another person in Jesus' lineage named Mattatha. There are two Levi's. There are two people named Melchi, which can also sometimes be spelled Melki. There are two Cainan's, one of which also goes by the name of Kenan. There are two Jacob's. One is sometimes called Jacob and other times called Israel. There are even two people named Jesus! The One is obvious, the other much more obscure. There are individuals whose names are almost identical, but not quite. For example, the lineage of Christ contains the names Eleazar and Eliezer. There's a Jorim, and there's a Joram. There are individuals who are known sometimes by one name and sometimes by another. In some cases, the variations are the product of a particular Bible translation. In other instances, the variations in the names are common to almost all translations. For instance, Jannai is also called Jannes or Janna. Naggai is also called Nagge or Nogah. Semein is also called Shimei or Shimi. Joanan is also called Joanna or even Hananiah. Achim is also called Akim. Sadoc is also called Zadok. Shealtiel is also called Salathiel. Joda is also called Juda. Salmon is also called Salma, Ram is also called Aram or Arni. This confusion is prevalent in the list of the kings of Judah, where Azariah is also called Uzziah, Joash is also Jehoash, Joram is also Jehoram, and Abijah is also Abijam. Last but not least, Jehoiachin is also called Jeconiah or simply Coniah. If this isn't enough to drive one crazy, some of the kings of Judah (above) were alive and in power at the same time as kings in Israel with the exact same names. In the historical accounts of these kings, the Old Testament switches back and forth to the happenings of each. Some of these kings are in the family tree of Jesus, and some are not – making it a challenge to keep track of who belongs where.

It seemed overwhelming right from the start. Wondering just where to begin this epic journey, I went back to now-familiar territory at Genesis 5:3 to see just where it would take me. As mentioned earlier, chapter five lists the Messianic lineage from Adam to Noah. Chapter five ends by mentioning three of his sons that would accompany him into the ark during the coming Flood. This verse (Genesis 5:32) presents a fork in the road. All three of them produced offspring that eventually grew into great nations, but only one of them was the correct path down the road toward the Promise of Jesus. That information is found in Genesis chapter ten:

"This is the history of the generations (descendants) of the sons of Noah—Shem, Ham, and Japheth" (Genesis 10:1).

Verses 2 through 20 describe the descendants of Ham and Japheth, until verse 21 takes us to the correct brother Shem.

"To Shem also, the younger brother of Japheth and the ancestor of all the children of Eber [including the Hebrews], children were born."

Verse 22 then lists sons of Shem (grandsons of Noah): Elam, Asshur, Arpachshad (Arphaxad), Lud, and Aram. Once again, here's a multiple fork in the road. Which child is the correct road to follow? It turns out to be Arpachshad (Genesis 11:10), where the line continues in progression as follows (bottom up) beginning with Salah:

Hezron
Perez
Judah
The next three (above) descending from Jacob are found in Genesis 46: 8-12
Jacob (Israel)
Isaac
Picks up at Genesis 25:26
Abraham
Picks up starting at Genesis 21:5
Terah
Nahor
Serug
Reu
Peleg
Eber (root word for "Hebrew")
Salah (Sala/Shelah)
(Time)

Here the scene shifts to the story of Joseph, which is outside the lineage of Jesus. To pick up the family line of Jesus again, we have to skip ahead to Ruth 4: 19-22 – where the writer describes the descendants of Perez after Hezron – starting with Ram and going to David:

David
Jesse
Obed
Boaz
Salmon
Nahshon
Amminadab
Ram

I had gotten as far as David; but a thousand years still remained before reaching the Person of Jesus Christ. Fortunately, there are a number of other lineage tables recorded in both the Old and New Testaments. As far as the family tree of Jesus is concerned, the other primary sources are Matthew, Luke, and I Chronicles. I chose to look into the Matthew list next, because the very first verse makes no bones about Who it's talking about:

"The Book of the ancestry (genealogy) of Jesus Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed), the Son (descendant) of David, the Son (descendant) of Abraham" (Matthew 1:1).

Matthew's list begins with Abraham (read list bottom up) and works its way through time to Jesus. Matthew 1: 2-16 looks like this:

The Matthew List

Jesus Christ

Joseph (husband of Jesus' mother Mary)
Jacob
Matthan
Eleazar
Eliud
Achim
Sadoc
Azor
Eliakim
Abiud
Zerubbabel
Shealtiel
Jeconiah (Jehoiachin)
Josiah
Amon
Manasseh
Hezekiah
Ahaz
Jotham
Uzziah (Azariah)
Joram (Jehoram)
Jehoshaphat
Asa
Abijah
Rehoboam
Solomon
David
Jesse
Obed
Boaz
Salmon
Nahshon
Aminadab (Amminadab)
Ram (Aram)
Hezron
Perez
Judah
Jacob
Isaac
Abraham

So the Genesis/Ruth genealogy of Jesus contains 33 names and traces the line from Adam to David, while the Matthew list contains 41 names and traces the line from Abraham to Jesus. Obviously, there is some overlap here as well as a number of new names. Next, I went to the genealogy found in the gospel of Luke. While Matthew starts at Abraham and goes forward in time to Jesus, Luke starts with Jesus and goes backward in time all the way to Adam:

The Luke list (Lk. 3:23-38)

Jesus Christ

Joseph
Heli
Matthat
Levi
Melchi
Jannai
Joseph
Mattathias
Amos
Nahum
Esli
Naggai
Maath
Mattathias
Semein
Josech
Joda
Joanan
Rhesa
Zerubbabel
Shealtiel
Neri
Melchi
Addi
Cosam
Almadam
Er
Jesus (not Christ)
Eliezer
Jorim
Matthat
Levi
Semein
Judah
Joseph
Jonam
Eliakim
Melea
Menna
Mattatha
Nathan
David
Jesse
Obed
Boaz
Salmon
Nahshon
Aminadab (Amminadab)
Admin
Arni (Ram)
Hezron
Perez
Judah
Jacob
Isaac
Abraham
Terah
Nahor
Serug
Reu
Peleg
Eber
Shelah
Cainan
Arphaxad
Shem
Noah
Lamech
Methuselah
Enoch
Jared
Mahalaleel
Cainan (Kenan)
Enos (Enosh)
Seth
Adam

In all, there are 77 names in Luke's list. Aside from more sheer names in it, there is a very noticeable difference from Matthew's rendering. If you look closely, you'll find that after David (moving forward in time toward Christ) the lists are almost completely different. Now that's a puzzle. How can this be? I've read a number of commentaries that have used these apparent discrepancies in an attempt to refute the accuracy of the biblical accounts, and I won't lend credence to them here. On the surface, a comparison between the genealogies I've listed so far would seem to indicate that the skeptics are right. Let me say here and now that they are not. This book is firmly based on the assumption and belief that the Bible is the inerrant Word of God, and that the careful translation down through the ages remains true to the original. If we accept that premise, further study of these comparative genealogies will bear that out. With that in mind, let's move to the list in I Chronicles 1:1 to 3:19. It lists 53 names from Adam going forward in time as far as Zerubbabel:

The First Chronicles List

Zerubbabel
Pedaiah
Jehoiachin
Jehoiakim
Josiah
Manasseh
Hezekiah
Ahaz
Jotham
Azariah
Amaziah
Joash
Ahaziah
Jehoram (Joram)
Jehoshaphat
Asa
Abijah
Rehoboam
Solomon
David
Jesse
Obed
Boaz
Salma (Salmon)
Nahshon
Amminadab
Ram
Hezron
Pharez (Perez)
Judah
Jacob (Israel)
Isaac
Abram (Abraham)
Terah
Nahor
Serug
Reu
Peleg
Eber
Shelah
Arpachshad (Arphaxad)
Shem
Noah
Lamech
Methuselah
Enoch
Jared
Mahalalel (Mahalaleel)
Kenan (Cainan)
Enosh
Seth
Adam

Take a look at the name just below Zerubbabel. Then compare that with the Matthew and Luke lists. You'll find that while both Matthew and Luke list Shealtiel as the father of Zerubbabel, the I Chronicles list claims instead that a man named Pedaiah was Zerubbabel's father. Is this a contradiction? Absolutely not! This is not the only apparent contradiction between these genealogies of Jesus. There are more, and after a seven-year study on them I can tell you assuredly that there actually is a perfect—and I mean perfect—explanation for each and every one.
(Continues...)

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Excerpted from The Family Tree of Jesus by Curt D. Baker. Copyright © 2013 by Curt D. Baker. Excerpted by permission of iUniverse, Inc..
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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Table of Contents

Contents

Introduction....................     xi     

Chapter 1: The Seed of an Idea....................     1     

Chapter 2: Fusion, not Confusion....................     21     

Chapter 3: The Primary Trunk Up Close and Personal – The "A" List..........     31     

Chapter 4: The Primary Trunk Up Close and Personal – B Through I...........     49     

Chapter 5: The Primary Trunk Up Close and Personal – The "J" List..........     71     

Chapter 6: The Primary Trunk Up Close and Personal – K Through P...........     95     

Chapter 7: The Primary Trunk Up Close and Personal – R Through Z...........     109     

Chapter 8: Jeremiah, Jehoiakim, and Jehoiachin....................     125     

Chapter 9: The 23 Men in the Branches....................     139     

Chapter 10: The 27 Women – The Trunk and the Branches....................     151     

Chapter 11: Jesus – A Biblical Bio....................     177     

Chapter 12: Historical Editorial....................     193     

Chapter 13 – When Was Jesus Born?....................     207     

Chapter 14: Matthew's Fabulous 14's And 14 Fascinating Facts...............     221     

Chapter 15: Fish Food For Thought....................     233     

Chapter 16: Three Rings, Tree Rings....................     243     

Chapter 17: The Name Above All Names....................     253     

Closing Thought....................     287     

Alphabetical List of Jesus' Family Tree with References....................     289     

Enlarged Charts of Jesus' Family Tree....................          

Reigns of the Kings in the family tree of Jesus....................     299     

List of Works Cited....................     301     

Reader's Summary....................     303     

Maps:....................