Matthew 1:1

 Matthew 1:1 says. The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.  The first several verses of Matthew are the genealogy of Jesus, beginning with Abraham.  Verse two states, Abraham begat Isaac; and Isaac begat Jacob; and Jacob begat Judas and his brethren;  Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were the ones that God made the promise to that He would make them a great nation if they obeyed Him.  Verse three says, And Judas begat Phares and Zara of Thamar; and Phares begat Esrom; and Esrom begat Aram;   Verse four states, And Aram begat Aminadab; and Aminadab begat Naasson; and Naasson begat Salmon;  Verse five says, And Salmon begat Booz of Rachab; and Booz begat Obed of Ruth; and Obed begat Jesse;  Some of the names are spelled differently, such a Booz instead of Boaz, but they are the same person.  Verse six states, And Jesse begat David the king; and David the king begat Solomon of her that had been the wife of Urias;  David, the first king chosen by God for Israel, was in the lineage of Jesus, just as God had said he would be.  God always fulfills His promises.  Verse seven says, And Solomon begat Roboam; and Roboam begat Abia; and Abia begat Asa;  Verse eight adds, And Asa begat Josaphat; and Josaphat begat Joram; and Joram begat Ozias;  Verse nine states, And Ozias begat Joatham; and Joatham begat Achaz; and Achaz begat Ezekias;  Verse ten says, And Ezekias begat Manasses; and Manasses begat Amon; and Amon begat Josias;  Verse eleven adds, And Josias begat Jechonias and his brethren, about the time they were carried away to Babylon:  The good and the bad times of Israel did not change the promise of God, and the good and bad times in our lives today will not change the promise of God that we are His forevermore if we accept Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord.  Verse twelve states, And after they were brought to Babylon, Jechonias begat Salathiel; and Salathiel begat Zorobabel;  Verse thirteen says, And Zorobabel begat Abiud; and Abiud begat Eliakim; and Eliakim begat Azor;  Verse fourteen states, And Azor begat Sadoc; and Sadoc begat Achim; and Achim begat Eliud;  Verse fifteen adds, And Eliud begat Eleazar; and Eleazar begat Matthan; and Matthan begat Jacob;  Verse sixteen adds, And Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.  We have the lineage of Jesus from Abraham to Joseph and Jesus Himself.  Verse seventeen concludes, 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.  It had been forty-to generations since the promise of God to Abraham to the coming of Jesus, the promised Messiah, and this may seem a long time to us, but God's promise was in effect the whole time.  No matter how many years may pass before the return of Christ, God's promise is still in effect.  Jesus Christ will return one day to claim those who are His.