Did Jesus' descent from King David entitle him to the throne? Two descents of Joseph from King David are given in the Gospels. The 1st in Matthew, which traces Joseph's descent from King Solomon through King Jehoiakim, would not entitle Jesus to the throne because of a prophecy in Jeremiah 22:30: 30 The Lord says this, list this man (King Jehoiakim) as childless; a man who made a failure of his life, since none of his descendants will have the fortune to sit on the throne of David or to rule in Judah again. The Prophet Jeremiah clearly rules out any descendant of King Jehoiakim from ruling as King David's heir. The second descent, which is given in the Gospel of Luke lists Joseph's descent from Nathan, the son of King David. However, though Nathan was the son of King David, his descendants are not entitled to the throne because of a prophecy given to King David by God Himself in I Chronicles 22:9-10 which limits the kingship to the descendants of Solomon: 9 Behold, a son shall be born to you who shall be a man of peace. I will give him rest from all his enemies round about; for his name shall be Solomon, and I will give peace and quiet to Israel in his days. 10 He shall build a house for My Name and Presence. He shall be my son, and I will be his father; and I will establish his royal throne over Israel forever. Therefore, Jesus could not inherit the throne due to either of Joseph's descents from King David. The Messiah must be a descendant of King Solomon, but not through Jehoiakim. The fact that these two lineages of Joseph are contradictory as to Joseph's forefathers calls both into question and clearly shows that the Gospels contain errors and were thus the work of fallible men and not God. It has been claimed that Luke was giving the ancestors of Mary, but this is spurious, since she is not even mentioned. Further, Luke mentions clearly in Luke 3:23 that Jesus was not the son of Joseph saying that "he was supposed the son of Joseph". If Luke was not giving Joseph's paternal ancestry, he could easily have said so as he did in the case of Jesus. Some claim that Jesus had a claim to the throne based on a descent from David via his mother, Mary. But this ignores Ps. 132:11-12 which talks about the right to the throne being passed via the male line: "The Lord swore to David and will remain true to his word, 'I promise that your own son shall succeed you on the throne. If your sons observe my covenant, the decrees that I have taught them, their sons too shall succeed you on the throne for evermore.'" Ps. 132:11-12
Where's Dan?: Why I lost my faith in Biblical infallibility Did Jesus make mistakes?: To err is human When was Jesus crucified?: who's right, John or the Synoptics? When is Jesus coming back?: Don't hold your breath What does the Bible say about slavery?: Bible trivia: Lots of other errors: |
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