Jesus' Messianic Claim - The Lineage

The Messiah couldn't have come from anywhere or just any nation. He couldn't have been born in just any country, to some random family, or into any of the cultures of the world. If someone was going to claim the title of "the Messiah", he would have to come from a very limited and specific lineage.

In this post, we'll look at seven bottle-necks in the ancestry of the Anointed One. If anyone was going to claim the Messianic title, they had to demonstrate this exact family lineage.

The Seed of the Woman

Genesis 3:14-15 "And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He will bruise your head, and you shall bruise His feet."

We can see two important points about the Messiah's identity from this one verse:

1 - The Messiah must be a human. It seems like this shouldn't need to be said; of course he would be a human! However, there are thousands of people who are holding onto a religion that claims their messiah was an angel, and not a man. But no matter what their "witnesses" may tell you, the true Messiah had to have a human identity, from the lineage of Eve.

2 - The Messiah must be a man. This cuts out half of the human population from cosideration. Although the Messiah would redeem all of us - male and female - this scripture clearly says "He" will crush the head of the serpent.

(In this verse, we also see a prophecy about the nature of the Messiah's birth and about the mission He would have on earth...but that is for another post.)

The Messiah would have to come from Eve.

The Tents of Shem

Genesis 10:32 "These were the families of the sons of Noah, according to their generations, in their nations; and from these the nations were divided on the earth after the flood."

After the flood wiped out the entire human population on earth, God started over with the family of Noah. Everyone on earth is descended from his three sons; Shem, Ham, and Japheth. If we can identify which one of these the Messiah was destined to come from, we could filter out two-thirds of the men who have ever lived.

Lets take a look at Genesis 9:26-27

"And he said: 'Blessed be the LORD, the God of Shem, and may Canaan be his servant. May God enlarge Japheth, and may He dwell in the tents of Shem; and may Canaan be his servant.'"

From this passage, we see a prophetic blessing on two of Noah's sons, Japheth and Shem.

"May God enlarge Japheth..."

This is exactly what happened. Japheth's descendants eventually filled Europe, North and South America, Asia, and even many of the Oceanic Islands! Whether we're talking about numbers or geography, Japheth's descendants have truly been enlarged! But...this isn't necessarily a messianic promise.

"...and may He dwell in the tents of Shem..."

Here it is. This is the where we see the Messiah, dwelling in the tents of Shem. Japheth may have gotten the blessing of enlargement, but it was the lineage of Shem that was chosen to produce the Messiah.

The Messiah would have to be a descendant of Eve and Shem.

The Seed of Abraham

Genesis 12:1-3 "Now the LORD had said to Abram: 'Get out of your country, from your family and from your father's house, to a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.'"

Nine generations down Shem's family tree, we meet a man named Abram (later called Abraham). He was chosen to be the father of God's chosen people. Not only did God promise to bless Abraham, but also to make him a blessing to the entire earth. This was the first Messianic promise God made to this man - and it was received by faith.

The Messiah would have to come from Eve, Shem, and Abraham.

Still, Abraham had several sons - including the two most famous, Ishmael and Isaac. We can narrow the possiblities down even further by looking at another Messianic promise to this great Patriarch of our faith.

A Descendant of Isaac

Genesis 17:18-21 "And Abraham said, 'Oh, that Ishmael might live before you!' Then God said: 'Now, Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac; I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his descendants after him.

"'And as for Ishmael, I have heard you. Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly. He shall beget twelve princes and I will make him a great nation. But my covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this set time next year.'"

Because of Abraham's prayers, Ishmael was blessed. He became a great nation, and millions of people today can trace their ancestry back to him. But Ishmael wasn't who God chose to bring His Messiah through. No, that covenant was made with Abraham's second son, Isaac.

This promise to Isaac was later confirmed in Genesis 21:12, "...for in Isaac your seed shall be called."

The Messiah would have to come from Eve, Shem, Abraham, and Isaac.

From the Sons of Jacob

Isaac had two sons, Esau (the oldest) and Jacob. A lot of the Middle-East is populated from these two boys:

Esau gave rise to many of the Arabs, especially those in the area of Jordan.
Jacobs descendants became the Jews, living in land of Israel.

Which of these two did God choose to bring the Messiah through? We see the answer in Numbers 24:17.

"I see Him, but not now; I behold Him, but not near; a Star shall come out of Jacob; a scepter shall rise out of Israel, and batter the brow of Moab, and destroy all the sons of tumult."

Although the descendants of Ishmael and Esau were blessed and grew to fill most of the Middle-East, it was the Jewish people - through Isaac and Jacob - that were chosen to bring forth the Messiah. The descendants of Jacob were the ones that were going to usher in the blessing of Abraham...the Messiah that would bless all nations.

The Messiah would have to come from Eve, Shem, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

The Tribe of Judah

Jacob had twelve sons. The families of these men became the twelve tribes of Israel. (Actually, there were thirteen tribes if you include the tribe of Levi. The descendants of Jacob's son Joseph became two tribes.) Tens of millions of men have descended from these tribes - so if we're going to narrow the line down any further, we must find out which tribe the Messiah would come from.

Reuben was Jacob's oldest son, the firstborn. If we followed the general rule of the time, the birthright (and any covenants attached to it) should've been given to him. But according to Genesis 49:4, Reuben was rejected because of his instability and disqualified.

With Reuben out of the running, Joseph was an obvious candidate. He was the oldest son of Jacob's wife Rachel. He was faithful to the God of his father. Even when he was literally sold out by his brothers, Joseph forgave them. He was exalted to be the ruler of Egypt, and used that position to save his entire family. This would be an excellent lineage for the Messiah to come through!

Of all the brothers, Judah was the least likely to be in the lineage of the Messiah. He was the one who started the trouble with Joseph. In fact, until Reuben talked him out of it, Judah actually intended to kill Joseph.  And then, while Joseph was a slave in Egypt, Judah got involved with what he thought was a prostitute - and ended up getting his own daughter-in-law pregnant! Surely this wasn't a man that God was considering...was he?

Genesis 49:10 "The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh comes; and to Him shall be the obedience of the people." 

Without even looking at whether Judah deserved to be in the Messiah's lineage, God simply chose him! And in that prophecy over Judah, God gave us one of the most beautiful names of this anointed Man - Shiloh. The name Shiloh means "the one to whom it belongs." In this verse, God was declaring that a line of rulers would come from Judah and hold the scepter of the kingdom. He also declared that the same scepter will find its way into the hands of the Messiah - the One to whom it belongs.

The Messiah would have to come from Eve, Shem, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Judah.

From the Root of Jesse

There have been countless thousands of families in the tribe of Judah. Some men of Judah, like Caleb and Boaz, were Godly heroes of our faith. Others, like Achan and Nabal weren't so virtuous (in fact, Nabal is called a "scoundrel" in 1 Samuel 25:17). Did God tell us which family in Judah the Messiah would come from?

Isaiah 11:10 "And in that day there shall be a Root of Jesse, Who shall stand as a banner to the people; for the Gentiles shall seek Him, and His resting place shall be glorious."

Of all the families in the tribe of Judah, God chose the family of Jesse, the grandson of Boaz and Ruth, to produce the Messiah. What an honor, especially since we don't know a lot about the man! But once again, God was sovereign in His choice, and He decided that one of Jesse's eight sons would carry the lineage of this promised Savior.

The Messiah would have to come from Eve, Shem, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Judah, and Jesse.

With this necessary lineage, not very many people could've claimed to be the Messiah. We'll find out later that this promise gets even more specific, and actually narrows it down to only one possibility. As you can probably tell from the title, Jesus is the only One who could claim the Messiah's throne!

He was the Seed of the Woman.

He was God dwelling in the tents of Shem.

He was the covenant of Abraham and Isaac.

He was the Star of Jacob.

He was Shiloh, from Judah.

He was the Root of the family of Jesse.

Jesus is the promised Messiah - the Savior of the Jews and Gentiles alike!