Is Jesus Cursed?

Does Jeconiah cancel out Jesus automatically? Let’s talk about it on Deeper Waters.

In looking at the genealogy of Jesus, we’ve been looking at the women. Now, let’s look at an objection. This will often come from Jewish people as well who will say that Jesus cannot be the Messiah because Jeconiah, also called Jehoiachin, is in his bloodline. Jehoiachin had a curse put on him. Let’s go to the 22nd chapter of Jeremiah and look at what it says.

“As surely as I live,” declares the Lord, “even if you, Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, were a signet ring on my right hand, I would still pull you off. I will deliver you into the hands of those who want to kill you, those you fear—Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and the Babylonians. I will hurl you and the mother who gave you birth into another country, where neither of you was born, and there you both will die. You will never come back to the land you long to return to.”

Is this man Jehoiachin a despised, broken pot,
an object no one wants?
Why will he and his children be hurled out,
cast into a land they do not know?
O land, land, land,
hear the word of the Lord!
This is what the Lord says:
“Record this man as if childless,
a man who will not prosper in his lifetime,
for none of his offspring will prosper,
none will sit on the throne of David
or rule anymore in Judah.”

Ouch. If this is the case, then does Jesus have a strike against Him? How can he rule on the throne of David if He is a descendant of Jehoiachin?

Simple. This prophecy was given before the destruction of Jerusalem by Babylon. Jehoiachin had been leading the people astray and God had pronounced his sentence. In fact, when Jehoiachin is captured by the king of Babylon, it is not a descendant of Jehoiachin that takes the throne but rather Jehoiachin’s uncle, Zedekiah, who is placed on the throne as the last king of Judah before Babylon conquers it.

In fact, if this is a permanent statement, the person who compiled Jeremiah must have been extremely ignorant since in the next chapter in verses 5 and 6 we read this:

“The days are coming,” declares the Lord,
“when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch,
a King who will reign wisely
and do what is just and right in the land.
In his days Judah will be saved
and Israel will live in safety.
This is the name by which he will be called:
The Lord Our Righteous Savior.”

In other words, this is not the end. The situation is dire now, but it is not the end! God has not forgotten the covenant He made with His people. In fact, it would seem odd for a Jew to say that the God who gives prophecy is ignorant about what the future would be. Surely if a prophecy had been made to Judah, God would know what was going to happen and knew about Jehoiachin in advance.

If we needed further proof, we can always go to Haggai 2. In verses 20-23 we read the following:

The word of the Lord came to Haggai a second time on the twenty-fourth day of the month: 21 “Tell Zerubbabel governor of Judah that I am going to shake the heavens and the earth. 22 I will overturn royal thrones and shatter the power of the foreign kingdoms. I will overthrow chariots and their drivers; horses and their riders will fall, each by the sword of his brother.

“‘On that day,’ declares the Lord Almighty, ‘I will take you, my servant Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel,’ declares the Lord, ‘and I will make you like my signet ring, for I have chosen you,’ declares the Lord Almighty.”

Why is this significant? Because as we saw in the curse to Jehoiachin, God had compared him to a signet ring. Now the same comparison is being made to Zerubbabel, who according to Matthew is a descendant of Jehoiachin. In other words, God is showing that the curse is not eternal. It only applied to immediate descendants and thus, was indeed fulfilled.

So no, Jesus is not cursed and is still eligible to rule on the throne of David. God has not forsaken His covenant with David because of Jehoiachin.

In Christ,
Nick Peters