When you run the genealogy of Jesus in the book of Matthew, you come across some rather dubious characters. The first two verses are kinda okay, but when you get to verse three, you are introduced to a man named Phares, sometimes spelled Pharez. Do you know his story?
In Genesis 38, we are told that Pharez and his twin sister, Zarah, were the children of Judah. Their mother, Tamar, Judah's daughter-in-law, disguised herself as a prostitute and tricked Judah into sleeping with her because he had been negligent in providing her another husband. Pharez's entry into this life was nothing to boast about. But he was recognized as the son of Judah, and when you read the genealogy of David in Ruth 4, you see that he is the grandfather of Boaz and, eventually, King David, Jesus' family line.
We really don't know much more about Pharez, except for the statement in Ruth 4:11-12. As Boaz makes his bid for Ruth, "And all the people that were in the gate, and the elders, said, We are witnesses. The Lord make the woman that is come into thine house like Rachel and like Leah, which two did build the house of Israel: and do thou worthily in Ephratah, and be famous in Bethlehem: and let thy house be like the house of Pharez, whom Tamar bare unto Judah, of the seed which the Lord shall give thee of this young woman."
"Let thy house be like the house of Pharez?" Apparently, Pharez did not let his sketchy background inhibit him. He rose in leadership and was recognized a worthy son of Judah. He wasn't an accident. God had a purpose for his life.
Dick Brogden said, "When God assembles a team of insignificant people and wins with them, it is pretty obvious who is responsible for the victory." A sketchy background does not intimidate God. He specialized in using the unlikely. And He will use you, never doubt it.
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