Journey Of The Seed - Catch The Bible's Big Picture In 60 DaysSample

SILENT NIGHTS

[Scheduled Reading: Matthew 1-4]

After the prophet Malachi, there were roughly 400 years of silent nights. 

I’m talking about the roughly 146,000 days of silence from God.

There are no biblical accounts to report between the book of Malachi and the four gospel accounts (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) - between the Old and New Testaments.

No prophet stirrings. No angel appearances. Nothing. 

But guess what? Bible genealogies do give us some nuggets from this era. The Seed carriers! 

Check it out below:

And after the deportation to Babylon: Jechoniah was the father of Shealtiel,and Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel, and Zerubbabel the father of Abiud, and Abiud the father of Eliakim, and Eliakim the father of Azor, and Azor the father of Zadok, and Zadok the father of Achim, and Achim the father of Eliud, and Eliud the father of Eleazar, and Eleazar the father of Matthan, and Matthan the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called Christ.  (Matthew 1:12-16)

How special is it to know that the only mention of the 400-year silence is the fathers in line of The Seed!

Matthew’s genealogy mentions nine fathers that carry The Seed forward from Zerubbabel (#53). 

Abiud (#54), Eliakim (#55), Azor (#56), Sadoc (#57), Achim (#58), Eliud (#59), Eleazar (#60), Matthan (#61), Jacob (#62). 

We know nothing else about these men. 

The fact that we have their names says something about God’s desire for us to have this precious Seed history. 

Of course we know the tenth father mentioned – Joseph, husband to Mary. He’s #63 in the line of The Seed!

And finally, there’s #64, The SEED. Jesus Christ!

For 42 days we’ve been reading through the Old Testament. 

Finally we arrive at The SEED from Genesis 3:15. The seed of the woman. The Christ child. The Messiah. 

Matthew makes helpful connections to the Old Testament. If you’re reading Matthew 1-4 from a Bible with references, you’ll notice the links to the various prophets (Isaiah, Micah, Jeremiah, Hosea).

Even the account of Jesus being tempted by Satan (Matt. 4:4, 6, 7, 10) contains references Jesus makes to Old Testament texts (Deuteronomy and Psalms).

Reading the New Testament can feel like reading a completely different Bible. But the links to the Old Testament show us how interconnected this Bible’s story really is. 

Tracking The Seed

Take the time to update The Seed Chart all the way to 

Jesus Christ.