Hello everyone. Praise the Lord!
Have you ever wondered why the importance of the census and the genealogies?
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The Significance of the Census
In Luke 2, Mary and Joseph travelled from Nazareth to Bethlehem to enroll in the Roman census. It was 70 miles, but they likely went around Samaria, if so, it would have been more like 90 miles--four to seven days travel. It was a Roman decree that counted the population mainly for tax purposes. It was customary for the Jewish people to keep their ancestral files and to be registered in their city of their ancestors, which is why Joseph and Mary went to Bethlehem--the city of their forefather, David.
Jewish/Christian scholar Alfred Edersheim said, in “the Jewish mode of registration, the people would have been enrolled according to tribes, families or clans, and the house of their fathers…to be registered in ‘his own city.’ In the case of Joseph and Mary, whose descent from David was not only known, but where, for the sake of the unborn Messiah, it was most important that this should be distinctly noted, it was natural that, in accordance with Jewish law, they should have gone to Bethlehem.”
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It was important for Jewish people to know their ancestry. Paul says in Romans 11:1 "For I am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.” To the Jewish people, genealogies were important. “Among other things, the birthright, given to the firstborn son, involved a double inheritance, family leadership, vocational opportunities, and land ownership,” says Bible professor Dr. Robert Gromacki. “That is why genealogies were found throughout the Old Testament.”
The genealogies were kept as public record as first century Jewish historian Josephus wrote, “Thus have I set down the genealogy of my family as I have found in the public records.” Josephus says high priests could trace their lineage in the records from father to son for 2000 years. These records were destroyed during the destruction of the Temple in 70 AD.
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Jews “have absolutely no record of their tribal ancestry today. None,” pastor John MacArthur says. “They can’t trace it at all. It is completely vanished. I mean, it has totally vanished. No Jew existent in the world today could ever prove himself to be a son of David. Now I want you to know something. If anybody comes along claiming to be the Messiah, he’ll never be able to prove it. And there are some Orthodox Jews who still believe the Messiah is going to come, but the problem is there will never be any lineal way to prove that….Jesus Christ is the last verifiable claimant to David’s throne. If he is not the Messiah, nobody else can ever lay believable claim to it.”
The census allowed the public to see the lineage of the Man who eventually claimed, ever so subtly, to be the King. For one generation after he died, all of those who saw Him teach and do miraculous signs, could look up His pedigree to see if He could have been the highly anticipated Messiah. After that generation, 40 years after Jesus, the books were closed.
“He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning.” (Daniel 2:21).
William James Roop
