Matthew 2: part two

    In Chapter 1, Matthew wrote about appearances by 2 angels.  One angel appeared to Mary in person to tell her that she was pregnant with the child of the Holy Spirit.   The second angel appeared to Joseph in a dream to tell him about Mary and the Baby she was carrying.  The angel told him it was ok to go ahead and marry her and that the birth would fulfill the prophecy that He would be born of a virgin.  Joseph did not "know" his wife until after this Baby was born.  The angel also told Joseph to name the Baby Emmanuel because He would be the One to save the world from their sins.  Joseph had to understand why it was so important to keep this Baby safe.
     In chapter 2, after they had worshipped the Lord, a third angel appeared to the magi to warn them to go home by a different route in order to protect Jesus from Herod.  A fourth angel appeared to Joseph, also in a dream, and told him to gather his family and flee to Egypt as Herod planned to have Him killed.  Joseph wasted no time in packing up his family and leaving Bethlehem for Egypt  Later, the fifth angel appeared to Joseph in a dream, telling him it was safe to take his family back to Israel.  However, Joseph heard that Herod's son was ruling Judaea, so he also took a different route home and settled his family in Nazareth.
     In chapter 1, the first prophecy from Isaiah 7:14 was that the Messiah would be born of a virgin.  This prophecy was fulfilled thru Mary.  That the Messiah was to come out of Bethlehem of Judaea is the second prophecy.  The scribes quote the scriptures from Micah 5:2 in v.6, confirming Bethlehem as His birthplace.  Chapter 2:11 is the third prophecy:  the King would be presented with precious gifts.  This prophecy comes from Isaiah 60:6. The fourth prophecy was when God said He would call His Son out of Egypt,  This prophecy comes from Hosea 11:1.  The fifth prophecy is quoted from Jeremiah 31:15 when Rachel weeps for her children because they are not.  Matthew sees this as Herod, in a jealous rage, had all the children age 2 and under massacred because he thought Jesus was still in Israel and about that age.  However, Jeremy sees Rachel rising up out of her grave and weeping over the children of Israel who were enslaved in Babylon, never to return to their homes.  The sixth and last prophecy in Chapter 2 is when God came to Joseph in a dream, telling him to go to Galilee instead of returning to Judaea.  He settled his family in Nazareth, thus fulfilling the prophesy that "He shall be called a Nazarene. This prophecy Bible scholars think comes from Isaiah 11:1.

We have angels delivering messages from God in dreams in Chapter 2.   The angels were certainly kept busy keeping Jesus safe while He was just a Baby.  He was still the Son of God.  We also have 5 prophecies from the Old Testament fulfilled.  All this in the first two or three years of the life of Jesus.  At that young age, the Christchild had many Jews protecting Him, just as God commanded.

Matthew 2

Matthew 2

     Matthew begins Chapter 2 with the birth of Christ in Bethlehem of Judaea (the 10 northern tribes) during King Herod's reign.  Suddenly, out of the east, some wise men or magi appeared in Jerusalem asking for the new King of the Jews, so they could bow down and worship him.  (The Bible does not say there were 3 wise men, only that there were wise men from the East.  There could have been 2 or 20.)   They had been following a star for about 2 years which had led them to Jerusalem.  King Herod was livid.  He was the king!

     In fearful and probably angry haste, he called all his chief advisors and scribes together in a meeting to demand they tell him all about this King and where He was to be found. Being astrologers, they knew all about this event because they had studied the ancient scrolls.  They told Herod that the new King would be born in Bethlehem in Judaea, quoting the prophet in verse 6, "and thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, art not the least of the princes of Juda: for out of thee should come a Governor, that shall rule My people Israel." 

     Herod decided he needed more information, so he called the magi back to the throne room and inquired as to how long they had been following the star.  The Scripture doesn't say exactly how long the magi had been following the star, but Herod sends them on their way with instructions to return to him after they had found the young child so he, too, could worship the new king.  This also gave Herod a time line in which to carry out his next act, the massacre of all the children under the age of two years.

     The star was patiently waiting for the wise men to continue on with their quest and led them to where the Child was living.  They entered the house and when they saw the Child with His mother, Mary, they fell down and worshipped Him.  They also presented Him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh; expensive gifts for a child but not for a King!

     God sent an angel to the wise men in a dream, warning them to return home by a different route as Herod did not intend to worship the Child but to kill Him.  After their guests had gone on their way, another angel appeared to Joseph in a dream, telling him to gather up his small family and to flee to Egypt until God told him it was safe to return home. I imagine the gold enabled them financially to travel to and live in Egypt for an extended period of time.  Verse 15 speaks of another prophecy about the Messiah.  "Out of Egypt have I called My Son."  (Hosea 11:1)

     When Herod realized that the magi were not returning to him, he ordered all the male children under the age of two to be killed.  By learning when the wise men first saw the star, he was able to calculate the age of the new King to be close to 2 years of age.  This fulfilled, according to verse eighteen, the 5th prophecy made by Jeremy, the prophet.  "In Rama (land for the tribe of Benjamin) was there a voice heard, lamentation, and weeping, and great mourning, Rachel (beloved wife of Jacob, later mother of Joseph and Benjamin) weeping for her children (the Israelites enslaved in Babylon), and would not be comforted, because they are not."    

     After Herod's death, an angel came to Joseph in a dream and told him it was safe to return home.  When they got to Israel, they heard that Herod's son was on the throne,        " ...he turned aside to the parts of Galilee.".  They entered a city called Nazareth and settled in there. This fulfills another prophecy in verse 23.  "He shall be called a Nazarene." 

(Isaiah 11:1)  

     In all the nativity scenes we see today, there are 3 wise men with camels bearing gifts for the newborn King who is still in the stable as a baby.  No verse in Matthew claims that there were 3 wise men, just that there were 3 gifts.  Logic states the 3 gifts were brought by individuals, thus the 3 wise men, who were alleged to be religious astronomers from the Mesopotamian area.  They probably associated the star with the Messiah because the prophet, Balaam, from Mesopotamia had stated in 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 (symbol of authority) shall rise out of Israel, and shall smite the corners of Moab, and destroy all the children of Sheth. (an unknown race from the prophecies of Balaam)"  They followed the star, possibly looking for peace and meaning for their being alive.  They called it a star, but it might have been a bright light created to lead them to their Messiah.
     There were 3 gifts.  Gold, the most precious metal ever, was needed to escape Satan's wrath thru Herod.  Who knew?  God.  It also represented His Deity as it was a gift fit for a king.  The second gift, frankincense, represented His humanity.  It is an aromatic gum resin extracted from both African and Asian trees.  It was burned as incense.  The third gift, myrrh, was not mentioned in Isaiah 60:6 as it represents the suffering that Jesus would face.  In that prophecy, the aromatic gum resin, myrrh, was used for burials and was no longer needed.  His suffering in that prophecy had already happened and was over.  Christ had come into His kingdom.