The scepter shall never depart from Judah

Daily Readings - http://usccb.org/bible/readings/121712.cfm

In the past, I would be so confused and discouraged reading the bible, because there would be days when I would hit readings like the genealogy and numbers. I'd be so frustrated because no matter how hard I try, I just could not relate or understand what is God's message is for me, for that particular verse.

I think for Matthew's genealogy there is just no other way to at least relate to them or gain a better appreciation of all those names and generations without at least knowing some salvation history. Yes, Jesus indeed is the Messiah, the promised One, the righteous shoot from the stump of Jesse. After having read the salvation history again, when I hear those names in the genealogy of Jesus, it is like hearing names of old friends and their story. I'm not a theologian and my memory isn't that great either, but at least I can relate to the lineage of Jesus and His ancestors and what they have gone through. So I highly encourage you to read the salvation history once again, because that is the key to unlocking the genealogies or at least get a greater appreciation of who the names are and what they have done.

Now, let's go to the numbers. St. Matthew said that From Abraham to David is 14 generations, David to the Babylonian exile is 14 generations and from the exile to Jesus is also 14 generations. So as not confuse us even further lets us just stick to the significance of those numbers. (Because there are bible commentaries that actually go deeper on the actual counts of the generations in between).

In Genesis, when Abraham proved his faithfulness to God (Gen 12:1-3), God gave him a three fold promise. The first one is the Land Promise (Gen 15), second is Kingdom Promise (Gen 17) and the third is the Promise of Worldwide Blessing (Genesis 22). So in those three fourteen generations, each of those promise were fulfilled. From Abraham to David, the Land Promise was fulfilled, from David to the Babylonian exile, the Davidic Kingdom was fulfilled, and from the Babylonian exile to Jesus, the promise of worldwide blessing was fulfilled in Jesus Christ. In all of these numbers, we can be rest assured that our God is a God that fulfills His promise, and that He has a plan since the fall of man, to bring us back to Him again.

So yeah, don't worry, God has a plan!

Jesus loves you!