Readings  Joshua 14, Revelation 22

Good Morning Brothers and Sisters,

2:1  Matthew does not go into the actual birth of Jesus, which is not important to his story.  He looks at the prophecies that surround Jesus' birth, and the messianic prophecies that prove that Jesus is the Messiah that was predicted. 

He points out that the Messiah was to come from Bethlehem, which was prophesied in Micah 5:2, which is quoted in verse 6. 

Another interesting thing in this verse is the reference to the "wise men".  How wise do you think they were?  They were a company of philosophers, astrologers, and men learned in the crafts of divination and natural sciences.  In short, according to the world, they were wise, according to God, they were not so wise.  According to Deuteronomy 18:9-14, these type of people were to be driven from the land of Israel.  Look also at Isaiah 47:11-15.  The name Magi is short for Magician.  The Bible does not say there are three Magi, so there was probably an entire company, literally hundreds of men on the expedition.  These men were rich, and had a company of support with them.

2:2-3  They did recognize a phenomenon, and were serious about finding out why and how this came about.  It also opens another interesting thought, the Jews were blinded as to the prophecies regarding the Messiah.  And apparently the pagan Gentiles were not.  They had the discernment to determine what the star stood for, and about where they would end up.  They also were able to discern the nature of the star, in that the "King of the Jews" was born.  God revealed things to these Gentiles which He did not reveal to the Jews.  It is interesting that they believed God, and sought out the new Jewish King.  They were serious enough about it that they brought gifts.  It is significant that gentiles would point out the fulfillment of Balaam's prophecy, since he was a gentile, Numbers 27:17. 

2:4  Herod gathered the religious scholars together and questioned them about the prophecies concerning the Messiah.  Herod also believed the revelation of the magi.  Shouldn't a flag had gone up in the minds of the scholars that the King was not just following a topic of study, and that there was a real reason for his question?  These wise men caused enough of a scene that they were taken seriously. 

2:5-6 Already covered the prophecy.

2:7-9  Herod had discerned that this King would be greater than he was.  He was also able to discern that he was in danger of loosing his throne.  So as a matter of self preservation, he made plans to kill off the Messiah.    Note that Herod recognized that the Messiah was to be worshipped.  He determined the time of the star from the Magi, giving him a rough figure on the age of the Messiah.

2:10-12  The Magi followed the star until it stopped.  Think about that for a moment, if you focus on the moon, or on the sun in the sky as you travel down the road, doesn't it travel with you?  You can appear to be following the sun or moon, and all the time it seems to be moving ahead of you.  Why isn't it possible that the star that the Magi saw was not a normal star, but a illumination device that the Lord used to guide them directly to Jesus' home. God moved the cloud by day, and the pillar of fire by night to guide the children of Israel, Exodus 13:21-22. Remember, the manger scenes and the "Christmas Story" are a little off in their presentation.  The Magi did not come to Jesus until He was close to 2 years old.   Note also that the Magi came to a "house", not a stable.  Jesus is not referred to in the Greek as an infant Luke 2:12, but as a child Matthew 2:9,11.

Lord, we thank You for the understanding that we have gained through this study.

In Him,

Readings  Joshua 15, Philippians 1

Good Morning Brothers and Sisters,

Matthew 2:13-23  God's timing is incredible.  Joseph and Mary had just received a generous gift from the Magi, just in the nick of time to finance their trip to Egypt, and to settle them in at Egypt for a long stay.  In this passage, it is clear that they didn't have time to pack anything, they left suddenly, probably leaving all of their possessions behind.  They left the instant that Joseph heard from the angel, it was still night when they left, Joseph wasted no time.  Egypt had been used as a place of refuge in the past for the Jews, 1 Kings 11:40, Jeremiah 26:21. 

The prophecy in Hosea 11:1 is referring to Israel leaving Egypt, since Jesus is figuratively fulfilling the law, He also chose to add this prophecy demonstrating that He too was forced to Egypt.  Just as God's children were called out of Egypt, His Son was also called out of Egypt.  (A note of interest, the word for "flee" is pheugo in the Greek, this is where we get our English word fugitive.)   Hosea is an interesting book, it tells a story of a man who loved his wife Gomer, and was led by God to love her even though his wife constantly left him.  She ended up in a brothel, where the Lord told him to purchased her back.  The symbolism of the story is that even though Israel continually left the Lord, following other gods, He was constantly loving them back, willing to send His own Son in order to pay the price for their redemption.

Can you imagine how exciting it had to be for this young couple, Mary was probably around 15 or 16, with a two year old Child.  In their young lives, they had been witnessed to by angels, Matthew 1:20-23; Luke 1:26-38, had prophecies spoken over them, Luke 1:39-45, had visitors from far nations lavishing them with gifts, Matthew 2:1-12, and had old temple saints coming to see the Messiah, Luke 2:25-38.  They were willing to listen to the voice of the Lord, and to react instantly to His leading.  I wonder, if they were older, let's say, around thirty or so, well established in the neighborhood, and had accumulated possessions, would they have been so willing to leave so quickly?  Youth has its advantages in some ways.

Herod's death was an understatement that is uncanny.  The Gospel does not go into the penalties of the king who committed the following atrocities as well as attempting to kill the Son of God.  Check out this note from Josephus:  "5. (168) But now Herod’s distemper greatly increased upon him after a severe manner, and this by God’s judgment upon him for his sins: for a fire glowed in him slowly, which did not so much appear to the touch outwardly as it augmented his pains inwardly; (169) for it brought upon him a vehement appetite to eating, which he could not avoid to supply with one sort of food or other. His entrails were also exulcerated, and the chief violence of his pain lay on his colon; an aqueous and transparent liquor also settled itself about his feet, and a like matter afflicted him at the bottom of his belly. Nay, farther, his privy member was putrified, and produced worms; and when he sat upright he had a difficulty of breathing, which was very loathsome, on account of the stench of his breath, and the quickness of its returns; he had also convulsions in all parts of his body, which increased his strength to an insufferable degree. (170) It was said by those who pretended to divine, and who were endowed with wisdom to foretell such things, that God inflicted this punishment on the king on account of his great impiety; (171) yet was he still in hopes of recovering, though his afflictions seemed greater than anyone could bear. "

2:16-18  Infantcide was not a new thing, it had occurred in Egypt, Exodus 1:22-2:10  It is recorded that the Romans would kill babies in order to get rid of deformities, in the Apocryphal books, 1 Maccabees 1:60-61 and 2 Maccabees 8:4 infantcide was used to oppress the Jews.  In this case, it was implemented by an extremely evil king who wanted to make sure that another king was not born in his kingdom.  His plans failed, and he caused one of the greatest atrocities in history.  The prophecy was given by Jeremiah 31:15 referring to the Babylonian captivity, this was because Rachael was buried in Bethlehem, Genesis 35:19.  The captivity of Israel was not the only tragedy that took place in Bethlehem.  In both situations, the injustice was tremendous.  Satan had control over Herod, and had attempted to kill the Messiah before He grew up.  Jesus was vulnerable and protected as a child.

2:19-23  Joseph is once again instructed to make a move by an angel.  When Herod died, they were instructed to move back, and they did not return all the way back to Bethlehem.  Rather, they settled in Nazareth, they were not instructed to live in Nazareth.  This was also prophesied in the Bible regarding the Messiah.   We know this because Matthew was inspired by the Holy Spirit in writing it.  In the Old Testament, there doesn't seem to be a prophecy directly stating this, it could have been from apocryphal writings.  One interpretation is that the word for branch in Hebrew is "netser", which is also a title for Messiah, Jeremiah 23:5; Zechariah 3:8.  Another thought on it is that it is referring to the Messiah as being a Nazarite as referring to people dedicated to God, Numbers 6:1-21.

I enjoyed preparing this study, and still only scratched the surface of the content.  If you have anything else to share, add to, or disagree with, be sure to write in, either hit the reply button, or post your replies directly to the bulletin board at www.emailbiblestudy.com/bbs.  I am working on a new schedule, it will be up and running within the next few days, I noticed that I shorted Matthew a few days this week, I will continue in it until sunday.  I hope to have the corrections and the new schedule posted within the next few days.

Lord, thank you for this magnificent study, thank You for loving us enough to send Your only Son to die in our place.

In Him,