Matt 1:1-17, 17 So all the generations from Abraham to David were fourteen generations, and from David to the deportation to Babylon fourteen generations, and from the deportation to Babylon to the Christ fourteen generations.
The first 16 verses lists names of the patriarchs, men, and women of doubtful characters but all who supply important links in HIStory. In the records of the ancestors of Christ according to the flesh, one thing is clear, Matthew does not hide their history filled with scars. Jacob was a con man, Judah had twins with his daughter-in-law Tamar. Rahab from Jericho was a prostitute and the grandmother of Boaz the husband of Ruth, David’s great grandmother. Ruth was a Moabite, a worshiper of idols who was later converted. David was a thief, a murderer and adulterous, and Jesus is called the Son of David. Solomon his son was a womanizer, had 700 wives and 300 concubines who turned his heart against God.
The purpose of these names and their scars is to exhibit the wonderful manner in which God brings His own purposes. How through noticeable confusion of history of 42 generations from Abraham to David to Joseph, blotted by human sin, the thread of His providence, the promised seed remained unbroken. What makes this story remarkable is that the trace of the descent of our Lord is not actually through Mary His mother (virgin birth), but through Joseph, His father by assignment. This is how we the flawed people fit in HIStory, by assignment.