Dr. Goodluck Ofoegbu Prof. Oby Ofoegbu Banking Blessings Ministry San Antonio, Texas USA What We Will Learn Perez, Boaz, Obed, and Solomon Selected persons from genealogy of Jesus God does not demand perfection To grant favors to a person Earned blessing and incurred punishment Are God’s promises Could coexist in parallel for a person All Are Invited Part 1 of 2: Lessons from Genealogy of Jesus 2 What We Will Learn Two-part bible study Perez and Boaz in Part 1 Obed and Solomon in Part 2 Matthew 1 and other passages All Are Invited Part 1 of 2: Lessons from Genealogy of Jesus 3 Selected Persons from Genealogy of Jesus Genealogy of Jesus Includes several people That could be considered “imperfect” Or condemned outright In present-day societies Perez, Boaz, Obed, Solomon And others not selected for this study Matthew 1:1–6 All Are Invited Part 1 of 2: Lessons from Genealogy of Jesus 4 Matthew 1 (NIV) 1 This is the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah the son of David, the son of Abraham: 2 Abraham was the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob, Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, 3 Judah the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar, Perez the father of Hezron, Hezron the father of Ram, All Are Invited Part 1 of 2: Lessons from Genealogy of Jesus 5 Matthew 1 (NIV) 4 Ram the father of Amminadab, Amminadab the father of Nahshon, Nahshon the father of Salmon, 5 Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab, Boaz the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth, Obed the father of Jesse, 6 and Jesse the father of King David. David was the father of Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah’s wife, All Are Invited Part 1 of 2: Lessons from Genealogy of Jesus 6 Perez, Son of Judah Born by Judah’s daughter-in-law, Tamar Judah had three male children From his wife, a Canaanite Married Tamar for his first son Two oldest sons died Lost favor with God Youngest son too young to take over Tamar Genesis 38:1–11 [11 read in session] All Are Invited Part 1 of 2: Lessons from Genealogy of Jesus 7 Genesis 38 (NIV) 11 Judah then said to his daughter-in-law Tamar, “Live as a widow in your father’s household until my son Shelah grows up.” For he thought, “He may die too, just like his brothers.” So Tamar went to live in her father’s household. All Are Invited Part 1 of 2: Lessons from Genealogy of Jesus 8 Birth of Perez: Judah’s Interaction with Tamar Judah slept with daughter-in-law, Tamar Thought she was a prostitute Tamar tricked him Gave birth to twin boys, Perez and Zerah Genesis 38:12–30 [27–30 read in session] All Are Invited Part 1 of 2: Lessons from Genealogy of Jesus 9 Genesis 38 (NIV) 27 When the time came for her to give birth, there were twin boys in her womb. 28 As she was giving birth, one of them put out his hand; so the midwife took a scarlet thread and tied it on his wrist and said, “This one came out first.” All Are Invited Part 1 of 2: Lessons from Genealogy of Jesus 10 Genesis 38 (NIV) 29 But when he drew back his hand, his brother came out, and she said, “So this is how you have broken out!” And he was named Perez. 30 Then his brother, who had the scarlet thread on his wrist, came out. And he was named Zerah. All Are Invited Part 1 of 2: Lessons from Genealogy of Jesus 11 Perez, Son of Judah cont’d Judah inherited God’s promise to Jacob Likely earned blessings himself e.g., offered to be enslaved for Benjamin Incurred punishment by marrying Canaanite Blessing was fulfilled through Perez Punished through other children Earned blessing and incurred punishment Are parallel promises fulfilled at their time All Are Invited Part 1 of 2: Lessons from Genealogy of Jesus 12 Boaz, Son of Salmon Born by Rahab Prostitute that helped Israeli spies Two spies sent by Joshua To scout Jericho and neighboring land Stayed with Rahab She protected and informed them Because she feared God Joshua 2:1–24 [1–5 & 8–14 read in session] All Are Invited Part 1 of 2: Lessons from Genealogy of Jesus 13 Joshua 2 (NIV) 1 Then Joshua son of Nun secretly sent two spies from Shittim. “Go, look over the land,” he said, “especially Jericho.” So they went and entered the house of a prostitute named Rahab and stayed there. 2 The king of Jericho was told, “Look, some of the Israelites have come here tonight to spy out the land.” All Are Invited Part 1 of 2: Lessons from Genealogy of Jesus 14 Joshua 2 (NIV) 3 So the king of Jericho sent this message to Rahab: “Bring out the men who came to you and entered your house, because they have come to spy out the whole land.” 4 But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them. She said, “Yes, the men came to me, but I did not know where they had come from. All Are Invited Part 1 of 2: Lessons from Genealogy of Jesus 15 Joshua 2 (NIV) 5 At dusk, when it was time to close the city gate, they left. I don’t know which way they went. Go after them quickly. You may catch up with them.” All Are Invited Part 1 of 2: Lessons from Genealogy of Jesus 16 Joshua 2 (NIV) 8 Before the spies lay down for the night, she went up on the roof 9 and said to them, “I know that the Lord has given you this land and that a great fear of you has fallen on us, so that all who live in this country are melting in fear because of you. All Are Invited Part 1 of 2: Lessons from Genealogy of Jesus 17 Joshua 2 (NIV) 10 We have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to Sihon and Og, the two kings of the Amorites east of the Jordan, whom you completely destroyed. 11 When we heard of it, our hearts melted in fear and everyone’s courage failed because of you, for the Lord your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below. All Are Invited Part 1 of 2: Lessons from Genealogy of Jesus 18 Joshua 2 (NIV) 12 “Now then, please swear to me by the Lord that you will show kindness to my family, because I have shown kindness to you. Give me a sure sign 13 that you will spare the lives of my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all who belong to them—and that you will save us from death.” All Are Invited Part 1 of 2: Lessons from Genealogy of Jesus 19 Joshua 2 (NIV) 14 “Our lives for your lives!” the men assured her. “If you don’t tell what we are doing, we will treat you kindly and faithfully when the Lord gives us the land.” All Are Invited Part 1 of 2: Lessons from Genealogy of Jesus 20 Boaz, Son of Salmon cont’d Israelites protected Rahab When they destroyed Jericho Joshua 6:15–25 [not read in session] All Are Invited Part 1 of 2: Lessons from Genealogy of Jesus 21 What We Learned (Judah) Judah inherited blessing through Jacob Earned blessing himself as well May have incurred punishment Married Canaanite Both promises were fulfilled Blessing fulfilled through Perez Death of two sons May have been his punishment All Are Invited Part 1 of 2: Lessons from Genealogy of Jesus 22 What We Learned (Boaz) Boaz was a blessing to Rahab Because she helped Israel With fear of God Any punishment for prostitution Did not prevent her blessing All Are Invited Part 1 of 2: Lessons from Genealogy of Jesus 23 What We Learned Blessing and Punishment Earned blessing is a promise from God Incurred punishment is a promise from God Both promises will be fulfilled God may forgive promise of punishment If sinner repents truly All Are Invited Part 1 of 2: Lessons from Genealogy of Jesus 24 What We Learned God Doesn’t Need Perfection A person does not need to be perfect To find favor with God One can earn blessing Even with existing incurred punishment And can incur punishment Even with existing earned blessing Both can exist in parallel All Are Invited Part 1 of 2: Lessons from Genealogy of Jesus 25.