In the previous chapter we saw the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The Triune God’s preparation for the carrying out of His eternal economy was initiated in Adam and issued in three persons—Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. These three persons revealed in the book of Genesis resulted in one people, Israel. God’s history with the people of Israel is covered from Exodus to Malachi.
Through God’s preparation in the Old Testament with Israel, Christ was brought forth in the New Testament. Matthew 1 shows us the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham (v. 1). This genealogy is an abstract of the entire Old Testament. Five women are recorded in Christ’s genealogy. These are Tamar (v. 3), Rahab, Ruth (v. 5), Bathsheba, who had been the wife of Uriah (v. 6), and Mary, of whom Christ was born (v. 16). Tamar committed incest with her father-in-law, Judah (Gen. 38:6-30). Rahab was a prostitute (Josh. 2:1). Ruth belonged to the tribe of Moab (Ruth 1:4), the fruit of Lot’s incestuous union with his daughter (Gen. 19:30-38). Bathsheba committed adultery with David (2 Sam. 11:3, 26-27). Matthew 1:6 says that David begot Solomon “of her who had been the wife of Uriah.” David murdered Uriah and robbed him of his wife, Bathsheba. Only one of the five women in Christ’s genealogy was a chaste virgin—Mary, a descendant of the chosen race. Of her, Christ was directly born (v. 16). Such a record in the genealogy of Christ indicates that Christ is the kingly Savior of typical sinners.
The genealogy of Jesus Christ in Matthew is a brief and accurate abstract of the entire Old Testament. If we want to know the details of the genealogy of Christ, we have to read the thirty-nine books of the Old Testament. I began to study this genealogy in 1925, and this study issued in my writing a book in 1936 entitled Gleanings from the Genealogy of Christ, published by Brother Watchman Nee’s bookroom.
When we look at this genealogy with the view that the entire Old Testament was the Triune God’s preparation for the carrying out of His eternal economy, we can see how consistent the Bible is. The entire Bible was written by over forty writers spanning about fifteen hundred years. Within such a long period of time, they wrote one book with one subject, with one center, and with one goal. Today by the Lord’s mercy, the entire sixty-six books of the Bible have been opened up to us.
The issue of the history in the thirty-nine books of the Old Testament was the bringing forth of Christ, the God-man. Thus, the opening word of the New Testament reveals that Christ was brought forth as the issue of forty-two generations of people in the Old Testament. Christ’s being brought forth was for the producing of the Body of Christ as the organism of the processed and consummated Triune God. This organism will eventually consummate in the New Jerusalem, which is the eternal enlargement of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ was the tabernacle of God (John 1:14), and this tabernacle was a model, a prototype, which will eventually consummate in the New Jerusalem as the eternal tabernacle of God (Rev. 21:3).
The New Jerusalem will be the eternal mingling of the Triune God and the tripartite man. This mingling is indicated by the number twelve. In the New Jerusalem are the twelve foundations, inscribed with the names of the twelve apostles (v. 14); the twelve gates, which are the twelve pearls, inscribed with the names of the twelve tribes (v. 12); and the twelve fruits of the tree of life (22:2). With regard to space, the city proper is twelve thousand stadia, one thousand times twelve, in each of its three dimensions (21:16), and its wall is one hundred forty-four cubits, twelve times twelve, in height (v. 17). Twelve is three multiplied by four. Multiplication indicates mingling. The city is a square with four sides, and on each of the four sides are three gates. Three is the number of the Triune God, and four is the number of the creature, man. The Triune God, signified by the three gates, is mingled with man, signified by the number four. Therefore, the number twelve signifies that God in His eternal administration is mingled with His creature, man.