DCLM Daily Manna Wednesday 2 November 2022
TOPIC: From Ordinary to Extraordinary
TEXT: MATTHEW 1:1-17
KEY VERSE: “So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; and from David until the carrying away into Babylon are fourteen generations; and from the carrying away into Babylon unto Christ are fourteen generations” (MATTHEW 1:17).
DCLM Daily Manna Wednesday MESSAGE
Known throughout the centuries for its literary excellence, the Holy Bible also has enviable reputation for colourful narrative, impeccable accuracy and detailed precision. Its brief passages can sometimes astonish by capturing events spanning decades in a verse or two. At times, a series of happenings taking place in a bracket of years can be recapitulated in only a verse without the loss of the import of the story.
Following this matchless tradition, Matthew, in only seventeen verses of the first chapter of his inspired gospel, reveals the ancestral identity of Jesus, the prophesied Messiah. His book’s aim was to present our Lord as the promised Descendant of David. To do this, Matthew must link Old and new Testament personalities and references to show how Jesus fulfilled the prophecies of the departed messengers of God. In seventeen verses, the writer brings us close to forty-six people who lived over a period of 2,000 years. And all were ancestors of Jesus Christ.
He mentions illustrious figures like Abraham, Isaac and Jacob as well as Ruth and David. But there are others like Rahab the harlot who made the list because of their rare faith. The log also contains ordinary people: Hezron, Ram and Akim; although, they are not linked to any spectacular act in the Bible’s rich narration of the deeds of the patriarchs in their walk with God.
Being the Creator, God can perform extraordinary feats through those we perceive as ordinary or average. You can be the next the Lord wants to equip to work for Him if you meekly submit to Him.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: In God’s hands, the ordinary becomes extraordinary
THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: 1 KINGS 3-4
