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I'm doing a home Bible study on Daniel right now and this is very relevant to the seed of the woman mentioned in Genesis 3. Matthew 1 and Luke 3 are easy to follow until you get to David. Matthew goes on to Solomon, but Luke goes to Nathan's line. When Matthew followed the line of Solomon all the way to Jeconiah (Jehiachin, Coniah), his name is different in different places, God says he is so evil He put a blood curse on him.(Jer 22:30) This is the seed line of Jesus! How can we possibly get around the curse of God when He says he will not have any children and never sit on the throne of David?

Now move over to Luke's genealogy of Jesus. He split at David to Nathan's line and proceeded to "the son of Heli, the son of Joseph" in Luke 3:23. Back in Matthew we see Jacob was the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary. What is going on here? How can Heli and Jacob both be father to Joseph?

This brings us to a little discussed law that God gave to Moses back when the land of Canaan was to be divided up.

When we get to Heli, he had daughters only. He was the father of Mary. That takes us back to Numbers 27:1-7 and the daughters of Zelophehad. When Mary married Joseph he became the son of Heli by adoption into a family of girls. For practical purposes, Mary married her brother, but that’s the way the law made in Numbers 27 worked so daughters could own an inheritance. A family of girls only, could have an inheritance and the man they married was adopted by the dead father in law, in this case Heli. So legally, Joseph was the father of Jesus, but not by blood. God had maneuvered His way around the blood curse of Jechoniah, but Jesus was of the House and Lineage of David but it’s by a virgin birth and avoids the curse of Jechoniah. Who else but God could arrange this series of events? Jesus had to be of the House of David but couldn’t have any of Jechoniah's cursed blood.

Zedikiah was Jeconiah's uncle and was installed as a vassal king by Nebuchadnezzar who later blinded him and killed his sons and brought him to Babylon to die. He was the last king of Israel for thousands of years. All other leaders of Israel came from elsewhere.

For another work of God to keep the seed of the woman clean of Canaanite blood, check out Jacobs children's deaths and how Tamar carried the line forward as a prostitute and the line of Perez. This would make a great Soap Opera if you just change the names.

I meant to type Judah’s children but typed “Jacob”. In my last post. I had Jacob on my mind for some reason,....but I’m old.

You have developed a fine appreciation for and understanding of the intricacies of God's machinations in Immanuel-ing us. They are emblematic of everything He does, from the broader Old Testament to DNA to cell design to the nervous system to astrophysics.

It's a good thing we have eternity with Him, because that's exactly how long it will take us to apprehend all His works and glories.