Mat 2:16-23; The Curtain Is Opened on a New Era.

Class Outline:

Tuesday November 28, 2023

 

5 prophecies in Mat 1-2 taken together.

 

Chiastic structure:

Insignificant city (born into it).

        Dark past: slavery (not your fault).

        Dark past: sin (your fault).

Insignificant city (live in it).

 

DEU 7:7

“The Lord did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any of the peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples …”

 

MAT 2:6

'AND YOU, BETHLEHEM, LAND OF JUDAH,

ARE BY NO MEANS LEAST AMONG THE LEADERS OF JUDAH;

FOR OUT OF YOU SHALL COME FORTH A RULER

WHO WILL SHEPHERD MY PEOPLE ISRAEL.'"

 

Joseph was told to go to Egypt. “Out of Egypt I called My son” (HOS 11:1).

 

MAT 2:14-15

So Joseph got up and took the Child and His mother while it was still night, and left for Egypt. 15 He remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet: "OUT OF EGYPT I CALLED MY SON."

 

The result of the anger of Herod was the murder of the infants in Bethlehem. Matthew is shown JER 31:15 by the Holy Spirit - Rachel weeping for her children.

 

MAT 2:17-18

Then what had been spoken through Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled:

"A VOICE WAS HEARD IN RAMAH,

WEEPING AND GREAT MOURNING,

RACHEL WEEPING FOR HER CHILDREN;

AND SHE REFUSED TO BE COMFORTED,

BECAUSE THEY WERE NO MORE."

 

Jesus escaped the “captivity” of Herod (Babylon).

No one else in history has escaped the captivity of sin.

 

Israel did not escape (neither in 586 B.C. or in Mat 2. None of us have escaped sin nor its consequences - captivity).

 

Jesus grew up in an insignificant city - Nazareth.

 

MAT 2:22-23

Then after being warned by God in a dream, he left for the regions of Galilee, 23 and came and lived in a city called Nazareth. This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophets: "He shall be called a Nazarene."

 

Jesus, the Son of God, lives Israel’s history and fulfills all that he (God’s son), failed to do.

 

He is born the King in the line of David.

He comes out of Egypt.

He is delivered from the wrath of Herod (not made captive of Babylon).

He is called a Nazarene (not accepted but persecuted).

He is proclaimed by John the Baptist (fulfilling Isa 40).

He is tested in the wilderness for 40 days.

 

MAT 3:16-17

After being baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and lighting on Him, 17 and behold, a voice out of the heavens said, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased." (ISA 42:1)

 

God calls Israel His firstborn son (EXO 4:22-23).

 

EXO 4:21-23

The Lord said to Moses, "When you go back to Egypt see that you perform before Pharaoh all the wonders which I have put in your power; but I will harden his heart so that he will not let the people go. 22 "Then you shall say to Pharaoh, 'Thus says the Lord, "Israel is My son, My firstborn. 23 "So I said to you, 'Let My son go that he may serve Me'; but you have refused to let him go. Behold, I will kill your son, your firstborn."'"

 

Matthew quotes:

HOS 11:1

When Israel was a youth I loved him,

And out of Egypt I called My son.

 

The Lord Jesus is called Israel in Isaiah’s second Servant song.

 

ISA 49:1-7

Listen to Me, O islands,

And pay attention, you peoples from afar.

The Lord called Me from the womb;

From the body of My mother He named Me.

2 He has made My mouth like a sharp sword,

In the shadow of His hand He has concealed Me;

And He has also made Me a select arrow,

He has hidden Me in His quiver.

3 He said to Me, "You are My Servant, Israel,

In Whom I will show My glory."

4 But I said, "I have toiled in vain,

I have spent My strength for nothing and vanity;

Yet surely the justice due to Me is with the Lord,

And My reward with My God."

 

5 And now says the Lord, who formed Me from the womb to be His Servant,

To bring Jacob back to Him, so that Israel might be gathered to Him

(For I am honored in the sight of the Lord,

And My God is My strength),

6 He says, "It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant

To raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved ones of Israel;

I will also make You a light of the nations

So that My salvation may reach to the end of the earth."

7 Thus says the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel and its Holy One,

To the despised One,

To the One abhorred by the nation,

To the Servant of rulers,

"Kings will see and arise,

Princes will also bow down,

Because of the Lord who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel who has chosen You."

 

The Israel of vs. 3 can be no one else but the Messiah.

 

“I will show My glory” can also be rendered:

ISA 49:3

And he said to me, "You are my servant,

Israel, in whom I will be glorified." [ESV]

 

Israel did not glorify God, but neither has anyone. Christ alone has glorified God the Father.

 

JOH 17:4

“I glorified You on the earth, having accomplished the work which You have given Me to do.”

 

All four Gospels show John the Baptist proclaiming Him as God, Yahweh, who will bring salvation to all flesh (LUK 3:6).

 

MAT 3:3

"The voice of one crying in the wilderness,

'Make ready the way of the Lord,

Make His paths straight!'"

 

John quotes Isa 40, the turning point in the Book of Isaiah.

 

ISA 40:1-5

"Comfort, O comfort My people," says your God.

 

2 "Speak kindly to Jerusalem;

And call out to her, that her warfare has ended,

That her iniquity has been removed,

That she has received of the Lord's hand

Double for all her sins."

 

3 A voice is calling,

"Clear the way for the Lord in the wilderness;

Make smooth in the desert a highway for our God.

4 "Let every valley be lifted up,

And every mountain and hill be made low;

And let the rough ground become a plain,

And the rugged terrain a broad valley;

5 Then the glory of the Lord will be revealed,

And all flesh will see it together;

For the mouth of the Lord has spoken."

 

Conclusion:

 

You have nothing to accomplish other than His will. All you are able to do, you only do it well if it is done by His will.

 

What could you possibly accomplish that could be of any contribution to Him? What could you add?

 

By grace, do His will by His power and in His way, and let God build your house.