What was the limitation of Levirate marriage, and why was it so important? 509 - 3 - 8

The Levirate marriage was codified in Deuteronomy 25:5-6. If a man died and left no son, his name would cease to exist and his property pass out of the family. To eliminate this a brother of the dead man was supposed to marry the widow. This Levirate marriage would assure that a family/ family line would not become extinct (no male heir) and would keep the property of a family from passing into the hands of a stranger.

What if a man had no male heir? Zelophehad died in the wilderness leaving five daughters and no male heir to leave his goods and property to. The five sisters petitioned Moses Numbers 27: 4, “Why should the name of our father be done away from among his family, because he hath no son? Give unto us therefore a possession among the brethren of our father.” Moses took their petition before the Lord. And the Lord said, Numbers 27: 8, “And thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel, saying, If a man die, and have no son, then ye shall cause his inheritance to pass unto his daughter.” When the daughter married, her father would adopt his son-in-law as his son.

So why is this exception so important? King Jeconiah was a descendant of King David through Solomon. King Jeconiah promoted idol worship in violation of Exodus 20:3, “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” Our righteous God through the prophet Jeremiah pronounced a blood curse on the line of Jeconiah. Jeremiah 22:30, “Thus saith the LORD, Write ye this man childless, a man that shall not prosper in his days: for no man of his seed shall prosper, sitting upon the throne of David, and ruling any more in Judah.” This meant that no Messiah could come from a male in the line of David.

The Gospels contain three genealogies for Jesus. John’s genealogy speaks of the preexistent One. Matthew traces the genealogy of Jesus through Solomon, son of King David to Joseph, husband of Mary. Luke traces the genealogy of Jesus through Nathan, son of King David to Mary.

Matthew’s genealogy had two flaws. The first is that Joseph was the stepfather of Jesus. Through God’s exception in the case of the daughters of Zelophehad Mary’s father could adopt his son-in-law Joseph as his son. However, there was a blood curse on the male line. As a descendent of Nathan there was no blood curse In Mary’s genealogy.

Thousands of years before our omniscient God pronounced the blood curse on the line of Jeconiah He already had a remedy, the virgin birth of Jesus as foretold in Genesis 3:15, “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.” Mary was the biological mother of Jesus born of her “seed” as predicted thousands of years before in the Garden of Eden.