anyone simply by birthright or a proper genealogy. True Israel is neither created nor sustained simply by a pure gene pool nor by an impeccable family tree. Note Matthew’s genealogy of Jesus. It lists four women who are foreigners and not especially “holy”: Tamar and Rahab the Canaanites, Ruth the Moabite, and Bathsheba the wife of a Hittite. At the very least, Matthew is saying the true descendants of Abraham are not selected simply on the basis of a genetic connection to Abraham. True Israel is