Matthew Chapter 2 "Concerning the Wise Men; Jesus Christ's Flight to Egypt" This Bible
Study is written by Roger Christopherson, and it's
transcription/ location is provided by http://www.theseason.org/plough.htm Matthew 2:1 "Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem." "From the east" in the manuscripts is including the north and the south, and is singular. East and west are also relative to the north and therefore occur in the plural. This name Bethlehem in the Hebrew means "House of Bread", and Jesus Christ our Lord's body has become the very "Bread of Life" that we place on the sacrament table to represent His body, along with the wine, the blood of Christ. Matthew 2:2 "Saying, "Where is He that is born King of the Jews" for we have seen His star in the east, and are come to worship Him." It is not important to know the number of wise men, however "His star", is the light to show the way. Christ is called the "Morning Star", and to understand this a little better, let me draw your attention to the fact that the prophecies in the Massoretic text relating to the star that was seen, was not a star in the sky, but a the vision of the Christ child, as recorded in Numbers 24:15-19. The location was given in other prophecies, so that the wise men already knew the location to be in Bethlehem. This is why these wise men went to Herod, for Herod's palace was very close to Bethlehem. By today's standard, a five minute drive. They came to Jerusalem two years after the birth, and this fact was related by the wise men to Herod. The star that brought them finally to the location of the house where the young boy was, could have been another vision, for their knowledge of Christ's birth in Bethlehem was well known, and well versed among all people of the day. The text is as follows: Numbers 24:15-16; "And he took up his parable, and said, "Balaam the son of Beor hath said, And the man whose eyes are open hath said: [15] He hath said, which heard the words of God, And knew the knowledge of the Most High, which saw the vision of the Almighty, falling into a trance, but having his eyes open:" [16] The words and the knowledge of the most High is the parable of God telling of this same thing. Numbers 24:17 "I shall see Him, but not now: I shall behold Him, But not nigh: There shall come a Star out of Jacob, And a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel, and shall smite the corners of Moab, and Destroy all the children of Sheth." [17] It wasn't time for the Savior to come, however, here is that Star that the wise men saw. "Sheth" should be translated "all the children of confusion." Numbers 24:18 "And Edom shall be a possession, Seir also shall be a possession for his enemies; And Israel shall do valiantly." [18] Edom is Russia of today. Israel is the true House of Israel, and they are the Christian nations of today. Numbers 24:19 "Out of Jacob shall come He that shall have dominion, And shall destroy him that remaineth of the city." [19] The builder of cities was Cain and his children. Numbers 24:20; "And when he looked on Amelek, he took up his parable, and said, "Amalek was the first of the nations; But his latter end shall be that he perish for ever." Remember that it was the sons of Cain that were the first city dwellers, that first of the nations this is aimed at those city dwellers called Kenites. Numbers 24:21; "And he looked on the Kenites, and took up his parable and said, "Strong is thy dwelling place, And thou puttest thy nest in a rock." Kenites is a Hebrew word that is only transliterated here, it means "sons of Cain". God is saying that they think that they are so well protected that even a lion cannot dig into your nest through a solid rock. Numbers 24:22-23; "Nevertheless the Kenite shall be wasted, until Asshur shall carry thee away captive. [22] and he took up his parable, and said, "Alas, who shall live when God doeth this!" [23] In the end, it will by Jesus Christ which will cause the Kenites to be wasted. Asshur, is Satan, the father of Cain the first murderer. That Star out of verse seventeen, is Jesus Christ. Even as Jesus complimented the two churches of Smyrna and Philadelphia [Revelation 2:9; 3:9], for they knew who the Kenites are, and know and understand who those that say they are Jews [Christian] , but lie and are of the synagogue of Satan. Unless you know who the Kenites are, you will not be able to understand who they were that came against the Star, Jesus Christ. The promise here in Numbers was that this Star, Jesus the Christ, would come and release the strangle hold that the Kenites have held on the Children of Israel for thousands of years. Spiritually it is completed, while it will be done for each child of God the moment that they receive Christ, and open their eyes to who the Kenites are. Satan has done a good job in hiding his children form the Christians, for it is almost never taught. No wonder they can stand up in the church houses and twist the truth, and never be challenged. Christians are ignorant of them. Matthew 2:3 "When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him." Kings get real excited when another king shows up in their territory unannounced. These three wise men have showed up looking for a king that Herod knows nothing about. Matthew 2:4 "And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the People together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born." Herod knew were to go to get the truth. Even a heathen king knew that it was written that Christ would be born of woman. So he went to the priests and demanded of them where the Christ child would be born. Matthew 2:5 "And they said unto him, "In Bethlehem of Judaea: for thus it is written by the prophet," It is written in Micah 5:2 exactly where the Christ child would be born. "But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall He come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting." There is nothing new under the sun, for what will come to pass is written in His Word. Nothing happens by accident with respect to God's Word. Matthew 2:6 "And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, art not the least among the princes of Judah: for out of thee shall come a governor, that shall rule My People Israel." This is the promise of Messiah, our Savior and Redeemer. Matthew 2:7 "Then Herod, when he had privily called the wise men, enquired of them diligently what time the star appeared." Herod wants to know just what time these wise men saw this star. The word "diligently", would be more accurate with "deceitfully". The reason that he wanted to know, is that He wanted to have all the little ones killed that were born in that time period of that sign. Matthew 2:8 "And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said, "Go and search diligently for the young Child; and when ye have found Him, bring me word again, that I may come and worship Him also." Matthew 2:9 "When they had heard the king they departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw in the east went before them, till it came and stood over where the young Child was." Many people today just don't believe this report. However our Heavenly Father controls nature. Matthew 2:10 "When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy." There will also be great joy at His second coming, at the sounding of the seventh trumpet, when all the saints in Christ will be changed into the new incorruptible, and immortal bodies. this event is recorded by Paul in I Corinthians 15:50-54. Matthew 2:11 "And when they were come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down, and worshipped Him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto Him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh." The fact that there were three wise men is not written, but the idea is given because their were three gifts. The number of wise men is not important. Matthew 2:12 "And being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way." Notice God came to the wise men in a dream. They did not bring any report back to king Herod. Matthew 2:13 "And when they were departed, behold, the Angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, "Arise and take the young Child and His mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young Child to destroy Him." Notice that when God protects one of His own children, that protection is complete. He will let it be known what has to be done, when and how to do it, for the safe keeping of His own. Just as He protected the Christ child from Herod's sword, He will also protect His elect from the wicked one, the Antichrist Satan, in that day of deception. He knows the minds of our enemies, and His Spirit dwells in us with communion with our minds. The mind is the intellect of the soul, which houses our spirit. God knows in advance all things that each of us will be confronted with, and when we are in His will and Spirit, He will control our steps and words. We do have free will, and He doesn't know or control that part of our free will, but when we study His Word, then His Word will direct our path. But God does know what the enemy shall bring against us. Matthew 2:14 "When he arose, he took the young Child and His mother by night, and departed into Egypt:" Joseph followed the Lord's instruction, and took good care of the mother and the Christ child. Matthew 2:15 "And was there until the death of Herod: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, "Out of Egypt have I called my Son." " This prophecy came from Hosea 11:1; "When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt." Matthew 2:16 "Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently enquired of the wise men." God's divine intervention had already taken the Christ child out of Herod's reach, when Herod had finally figured out that the wise men had no intension of returning. To make sure that this child had not escaped to endanger his throne, Herod gave the order to kill all the children in Bethlehem and the rural area around the town. Matthew 2:17 "Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet, saying," Do you want to know what Jeremy said? Jeremy is the prophet Jeremiah, and this prophecy comes from Jeremiah 31:15; "Thus saith the Lord; "A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, and bitter weeping; Rachel weeping for her children refused to be comforted for her children, because they were not." Ramah in the Hebrew means "the high place", evidently a high place near Jerusalem. Jeremiah 31:16; "Thus saith the Lord; 'Refrain thy voice form weeping, and thine eyes from tears: for thy work shall be rewarded, saith the Lord; and they shall come again from the land of the enemy." Your work is not in vain, is what he is saying to Rachel. Remember Rachel is the mother of both Joseph and Benjamin, the tribes of both Houses, Israel and Judah. Some day I'm going to join those children of the tribes of Israel back to Israel. We know that will be in the Millennium age, and it will be upon His return to Jerusalem, when His feet touch down on mount Zion. Lets go back to Genesis 35:18; "And it came to pass, as her soul was in departing, (for she died) that she called his name Benoni: but his father called him Benjamin." "Ben-oni", in the Hebrew means "son of my sorrow", she named him that because his birth brought about her death. Jacob however, called him Benjamin, which is "son of my right hand". Genesis 35:19; "And Rachel died, and was buried in the way to Ephrath, which is Bethlehem." Place where Rachel died weeping for her children, will be the same place where the Jesus Christ the Messiah would be born. The last of Jacob's sons was born where Jesus would later be born, and this is why the Lord said in Jeremiah 31:16; "Refrain thy voice from weeping, and thine eyes from tears; for thy work shall be rewarded. Matthew 2:18 "In Rama was there a voice heard, lamentation, and weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not." Though the weeping for the small children that were slaughtered went on, our Lord is reminding us that the true eternal comfort will be coming at the return of our Lord Jesus Christ. God said, "Don't weep Rachel, it is going to be alright," and we know it will be. Jesus will gather them all back to Him. Matthew 2:19 "But when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeareth in a dream to Joseph in Egypt," Again note the control of our Heavenly Father, He is in control of your future also, and once we repent and come to Him with a repentive heart, and believe on His Name, then God will direct our ways, through His Word, and with the dwelling of His Holy Spirit within us. Upon repentance, God stamps you with approval, as though you were perfect. With total forgiveness under the shed blood of Christ, you are clean in God's eyes, and that is where it counts. Matthew 2:20 "Saying, "Arise, and take the young Child and His mother, and go into the land of Israel: for they are dead which sought the young Child's life." Matthew 2:21 "And he arose, and took the young Child and His mother, and came into the land of Israel." Matthew 2:22 "But when he heard that Archelaus did reign in Judaea in the room of his father Herod, he was afraid to go thither: notwithstanding, being warned of God in a dream, he turned aside into the parts of Galilee:" We see that Joseph followed immediately the directions given by God, and took Mary and the Christ Child back from Egypt to the land of Judaea, however the fear never came until Joseph got back to Judaea. God lead Him back, and when Joseph took his eyes off of God, the fear came. He looked and saw that the son of Herod was now on the throne. God however, gave Joseph more instructions, after he was back in Judaea, to pass right through Judaea, north to Galilee. Everything that has happened in the lives of Joseph, Mary and Jesus took place exactly as it was written. When Joseph was in the reality of living out the prophecies that were written years before, the control came by God in the dreams. We are living in the latter days of this earth age, and many prophecies that seem strange to us that apply to what we will see and hear, just won't make sense until we see them come to pass, and live through them ourselves. However when they do, as God's elect we should note them and find comfort in our Lord, for He does have control over all men at all times. Matthew 2:23 "And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, "He shall be called a Nazarrene." " Joseph's trouble that caused him to leave Judaea was no accident, but a controlled event. This is because it was written that Jesus would be raised a Nazarene. This prophecy is given in several places; lets go to Judges 13:5; "For, lo, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; and no rasor shall come on his head for the child shall be a Nazarite unto God from the womb: and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines." So we see that the Old Testament told us where He would be born, and the book of Daniel tells us the time that He would be born, and many things that Jesus Christ would do living the life as a man. Every detail surrounding Jesus last days, His death, resurrection, and Christ's ascension into heaven was given through the prophets hundreds of years in advance. This is all made possible so that we can have confidence in His Word, and know that He loves us and cares for us.
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