Have you ever considered how God protected what Genesis 3:15 calls “the seed of the woman” through history? I can tell you that that seed was threatened many times. Although there are numerous examples, one example was that of Jeconiah. He was one of several wicked kings of Judah. When he was given a scroll containing the word of God -- which pronounced judgment on that evil man’s sins-- Jeconiah was not content to cut it up. He also burned it! As a result, God pronounced a curse on him and his descendants -- even though he was in the direct bloodline that was supposed to deliver a Messiah to the world at some future date.

So God had quite a dilemma. How was He going to let the Messiah come from David’s seed, as He had promised David, yet keep the blood of the evil Jeconiah from tainting the blood of the promised Messiah? How could that blood be worthy to later save you and me from our sins? But God is so wise! He simply let Mary carry the bloodline, biologically. Just like Joseph, Mary was also from the House of David. However, she was from the family of a different son of David, Nathan -- not Solomon, who was of the kingly line.

Yet, from a legal perspective, the king, i.e., the future Messiah, had to come from the bloodline of the son of David, and of Solomon, namely Jeconiah. Well, it was no problem to God. He caused Mary to get married to a man named Joseph. Joseph became Jesus’ earthly, legal father. Joseph WAS from the kingly line. So Jesus had the legal authority to be our coming King, but at the same time, His biological bloodline was that of Mary, from the line of Nathan, not Solomon and particularly not Jeconiah. God totally skipped Jeconiah -- from a biological perspective. Therefore, Jesus’ blood was untainted, undefiled, and uncontaminated. Only His blood was enough to cleanse us from all of our unrighteousness. Any other blood would have been a total waste.

Of course anyone else could have died on a cross, and many did in those days of Roman cruelty. But it would not have made any difference to us all these centuries later. Only the blood of Jesus of Nazareth was sufficient to forever remove our transgressions from us -- from as far as the east is from the west. Only His blood was enough to wipe out the rotten things in our past.

You may remember that I am an attorney who helps people who have experienced injuries due to car accidents. Before a client authorizes our office to file a lawsuit, I remind them that in a court of law, they will have virtually no secrets. All their “dirty laundry” will be out there -- fondled, sorted, and displayed by the defense attorney -- for all the world to see. I tell my client that there is really no one who is without skeletons in their closet. We all have things in our past which we wish had never happened -- things we wish we had never done.

While those things are still “alive” as far as the world is concerned, once we ask Jesus to come into our lives and dwell within us, to Him, it is as if they never happened. Theologians call it “justification,” or in other words, just as if you never sinned. When God sees us, He sees no dirty laundry. He sees no skeletons in our closet. He sees no faults. As Dottie Rambo wrote: “He sees us through the blood.” That perfect, pure blood of Jesus.

Oh how thankful I am for the blood of Jesus. If you have not already done so, ask Him into your heart today. Don’t go to bed tonight until you have made everything right with Jesus. Begin talking to Him, just as if He were in the room with you: “Dear Jesus. I am a sinner. I’ve made mistakes. I was wrong and I’m sorry. Please forgive me of all my sins and cleanse me from all of my unrighteousness. I give myself to you, heart, mind and soul. I pledge to serve you for the rest of my life.”

You will find the story of Jeconiah’s outrageous conduct in Jeremiah 36. I suggest you read it, perhaps even today. It shows us so many things, the importance of the blood, the importance of the Word of God, Jeremiah’s indefatigable spirit toward the things of God, and so many others.

May the world of God dwell in you richly today, and throughout eternity.

Your friend,

Roberta Potts