This family tree is the ancestry of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and David; the line through which Jesus came. I am the root and the offspring of David: the bright and morning star. (Rev 22:16) It is the history of the Apostles, the Jews, Judas Iscariot and the Herodians that came from Abraham’s children Ishmael and Esau via Edom. Also of the Israelite tribes scattered into the nations after their short Assyrian exile, who heard the Gospel from Peter, Paul and the Apostles.
Edenites
Edenites are those who existed prior to the formation of Israel recorded in the first few chapters of Genesis. They are the direct descendants of Adam formed by God, from whom Eve came. Their offspring include Seth and Adam’s grandson Enos; it was Enos who first began to call upon the Name of the LORD after the events in the Garden of Eden. The last Edenites were Noah and his sons Shem, Ham and Japheth and their families.
Hebrews
The first Hebrew was Abram (Abraham). Hebrew comes from Eber-Nari (Aramaic: Abar-Nahara ‘beyond the river’) in Mesopotamia the land of his birth. His ancestor through Terah was Shem first born of Noah. It also signifies he crossed over into Canaan. His sons, Ishmael and Isaac and grandsons Jacob and Esau, were also Hebrews. Hebrews is also a term to describe Abraham’s line as regards the New Testament letter from Paul.
Israelites
The first Israelite was Jacob. His name was changed to Is-ra-el after he wrestled with a man; the Angel of the LORD. (Gen 32:28) The first Israelite by birth was Reuben whose mother was Leah. All of Jacob’s sons are Israelites, and it is these and their families who journey to Egypt and settle in Goshen at the time of the great famine. They were later taken into slavery for four hundred years by the Egyptians but grew in number, becoming a substantial people and: a great nation.
After leaving Egypt under the leadership of Moses, Aaron and Joshua, they were given the Law at Mt. Herob. (Chârêb) Upon leaving the land of their idolatry with the golden calf, they remained in the wilderness forty years while the LORD purged this evil generation before entering Canaan. Now established in their new homeland (Judea/Palestine) they become the Kingdom of Israel. While Solomon was loved by God, Israel’s most righteous kings were David and Josiah.
Due to their many lapses, which started with Solomon, the Kingdom was later divided c.800BC becoming the northern House of Israel (10 tribes) and the southern House of Judah, (2 tribes) which retained Jerusalem and the Kingship; Israel’s capital was now Samaria. Judah was the fourth son of Jacob and Leah. Even though; Israel was no longer in the region after their later removal by the Assyrians, the names Israelite and Israel remain until the arrival of Jesus.
Jews
Important Note: There are no people called Jews in Adam’s line until after the Babylonian exile of Judah ending c.538BC. Also, the English Jew word did not exist in its present form before the 1769 revision of the King James Bible. The letter ‘J’ was invented by Trissino c.1524 and didn’t come into regular use until the late 17th Century. There were no words beginning with ‘J’ in the 1611 King James, or in the Old and New Testaments. The letter ‘J’ is not in the Hebrew alphabet. The Khazarian Jews of Europe (Ashkenaze – Israelis) are not related to this family tree nor can they claim its lineage, however the descendants of the Jews expelled by Rome in the first Century share a legitimate descent from Abraham.
When a remnant of Judah and Benjamin returned from their seventy year exile in Babylon; the Greek/Egyptian Ptolemaic Kingdom ruled Judea. The population was ethnically diverse owing to wars, trade, and the repopulation of the North by the Assyrians who brought in various peoples from Mesopotamia and Babylon (the Samaritans) to replace the House of Israel. The few, which returned to Jerusalem (Jer 29:10; Dan 9:2), became part of this cultural mix; they did however live separately alienated by their inflexible religious and political views.
A lineage from Adam; through Abraham, Jacob, Judah and David is recorded in both the Old and New Testaments. The reason for all those begats and son of, is to show an unbroken line, which can be divided into three periods. Matthew’s Gospel shows the ancestry of Jesus from Abraham, being three sets of fourteen generations, each a milestone in the history of Israel: Abraham to King David; David to the Assyrian Captivity; the Captivity to Christ. Its purpose is to confirm legitimacy, connection and belonging.
The ancestry through David (Son of David) Judah (the Kingship) and Jacob (the Promise) clearly shows the Adamic-Israelite line of Jesus through men. Luke takes us back through Isaac, Abraham, Shem, Noah, Enoch, and Adam where we arrive at the origin of Jesus on Earth: (Lk 3:23-38). When we look beyond Adam we find … In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (John 1:1)
When we visit Revelation 19:13 and Isaiah 9:6, we discover the identity, quality, glory and true splendor of the LORD Jesus Christ.
In terms of Jesus being a Jew, we will briefly look at it here although you will find it explained in more detail in The Great Lie. The term Jew speaks to temperament and religion, it does not and cannot mean racial inheritance, though it can speak to spiritual inheritance, which Jesus made plain in John 8:44 when speaking to the Pharisees. When we look for the Judaic lineage of Jesus today through the lens of history and translation we find them as Jews, when in their own land and age, they were known as Judah-ites and Judeans.
Spirit
The family tree shown here is the human line through which Jesus Came. He was promised in the Garden: I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shall bruise his heel. (Gen 3:15)
So, we should now consider the other aspect of ancestry outside the worldly: the eternal ancestor and antecedent of all, the Spirit of God. It is by this power and authority we have the line of Adam and his descendants. This is this same authority, which brought forth the Christ; it is this Spirit we share being created in His likeness.
Family then is kindred and intimacy; such is our inheritance through the conduit of Spirit and creation. For if not by the heavenly, how can disparate souls share the same Spirit through time? The Apostles and disciples are not so much distant figures, rather brothers and sisters who went before, our Father being theirs also. Such is the birthright acquired through faith in Jesus Christ.
That in the dispensation of the fullness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth in him. In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things after the counsel of his own will that we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ. (Eph 1:10-12)
Again in love and peace,
James