“and Perez the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Ram, and Ram the father of Amminadab, and Amminadab the father of Nahshon,” Matthew 1:3b-4b

The book of Genesis concludes with a lengthy narrative about Joseph and his brothers - the 12 sons of Jacob. In this extended episode, God brings about the deliverance of Jacob’s family and the surrounding nations, through Joseph’s rise to power in Egypt and his leadership through a devastating famine. This story concludes with all of Joseph’s brothers and their families relocating to Egypt – including Judah’s grandson – Hezron, who we see mentioned in Matthew 1:3 (Gen. 46:12).

In the following years, there arose a king in Egypt who did not know Joseph and what he had done for their nation (Ex. 1:8). This new Pharoah imposed harsh labor on the people of Israel, forcing them into slavery. Think about how crushing this was for Abraham’s descendants. God had promised Abraham a lineage of kings, but now his offspring were enslaved to a pagan king. But God has not forsaken His people; we see their redemption begin at the end of Exodus 2.

²³ During those many days the king of Egypt died, and the people of Israel groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help. Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God. ²⁴ And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. ²⁵ God saw the people of Israel—and God knew. – Exodus 2:23-25

Here, the people of Israel cry out to the Lord. He hears them and remembers His promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. God saw the people in their distress and determined to deliver them from their slavery. We see this redemptive work in the following chapters of Exodus, through the 10 plagues against Egypt, culminating with God’s great deliverance of His people from the hands of Pharoah and his armies. Among those that God brought through the waters and out of Egypt was Nahshon, the son of Amminadab, a descendant from Judah’s line and brother-in-law of Aaron (Ex. 6:23, Num. 1:7, 2:3, 7:12-17, 10:14). 

But even though, the nation of Israel had seen God’s mighty hand, they still rebelled against him – complaining in the wilderness, doubting His ability to give them the land that was promised. Because of this, Nahshon’s generation was forbidden from entering the land of Canaan, condemned to die in the wilderness (Num. 14). Even though Israel had experienced a great deliverance through the Exodus, a greater Exodus was still needed. A deliverance not just from physical slavery, but from their slavery to sin and rebellion against God. This exodus would be ushered in when Christ Jesus, the True King would arrive to save his people from their sins.

• What are some ways you see God’s hand in the generations from Judah & Joseph to the Exodus?
• Why is it important to remember that a greater Exodus was still needed for God’s people?