Answers Bible Curriculum Year 3 Quarter 1 Lesson 9
This week in Sunday school we examine the visit of the wise men to Jesus. In our lesson, we answer a number of questions, such as: When was Jesus born? Who were the wise men? What was the star the wise men followed? What did the wise men’s visit signify about Jesus? How does Matthew cite the fulfillment of Hosea 11:1 and Jeremiah 31:15? And how is Matthew’s account relevant for us today?
Our main text for our lesson is Matthew 2:1-18.
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once in 86 but also some time earlier and there is strong warrant for this interpretation since for a couple reasons one of them is there is an ancient Roman fragment that was unearthed in tavola which is near Rome and it described the career of a man remarkably similar to quarry Gnaeus now unfortunately on this fragment the name core that the name of this figure does not survive we know what person did but we don’t know who it was at least according to the fragment but the fragment does mention that this man governed Syria twice a double governorship would also explain why Luke clarified to his audience that Luke refers to the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria which suggests there was at least one other census one other later sentence that also took place while Quirinius was governing Syria therefore from what we learn in Matthew and from these these other items we can conclude that Carini is’s first governorship must have occurred while herod was also raining in Judea so there actually is a solution to this issue so when in Herod’s reign was Jesus born well pared indeed died in 4 BC and the latest that Jesus could be born since he’s about to when herod searches for him and the family flees to Egypt the latest Jesus could be born would be 6dc are the further for this yeah so 6 BC is one one side of the range however if Herod died slightly later if he died in 3 BC or 1 BC then Jesus could have been born a little bit later could have been born in four beasts or even if something suggested three beasts so this is why many I think even most conservative evangelical scholars placed Jesus birth between 6 and 4 BC might take slightly different views on the date of Herod’s death and how much time went by between the flight to Egypt and return to Israel but the determining factors are are the main determining factors of the things that present to you here the reigning of these different men and Herod’s death and and also the detail that Jesus was about 2 years old when these events with the wise man take place of course there are other factors in this issue of the timing there’s some minor details I’ve skipped over but hopefully you can see to a greater degree now the rationale for placing Jesus birth between 6 and 4 BC questions about the timing of Jesus birth yeah okay those are the good questions I’ll keep them real quick there are other issues that come up and dating Jesus birth and just dealing with the text why does Luke say that the census took place throughout the whole world when there’s there’s no historical record saying that there was a Roman Empire wide census and why were they required to go back to their place of birth whenever they registered for the census that doesn’t seem to be something that the Romans required or would require don’t know the exact answers those questions but I have some ideas that come to mind one is that even though there was no Empire wide census one singular census there was a system of sent census and perhaps Luke is just describing that that augustus says I want census I want a census of the whole Roman world and they say well we can’t do that all at once it’s like we’ll get to and get the different things working get the census of this region get the census of that region we know that Augustus certainly initiated a cycle of censuses I’m not good census or censuses I have to look that up but there were certainly multiple censuses that took place during Augustus rain and in different regions so that’s one way to respond to the first question as regards to why did they have to go back to their own City not really sure that made you see something unique to the Jewish people since they they were very much very much aware of their tribal lineage and so to verify with the Jews that you came from this certain tribe it was necessary to go back to a city of that tribe so maybe the the Jews have attached an extra element to this census that required one to go back to a city of one strive because remember knowing what tribe you’re in and knowing your genealogy was very important to the Jews that may be a reason I’m not sure if there is a particular reason why the Romans would require that and would have to find out more other questions okay so we’ve dealt with our first issue the timing and the chronology now let’s move to our passage let’s examine the visit of these wise men and we’re going to read from verses 1 to 18 there’s a little bit more in this chapter but we’re just going to stop at verse 18 so Matthew 2 verses 1:8 follow along as I read now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king Magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem saying where is he who has been born King of the Jews for we saw his star in the east and have come to worship Him when Herod the King heard this he was troubled and all Jerusalem with it gathering together all the chief priests and scribes of the people he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born they said to him in Bethlehem of Judea but this is what was written by the prophet 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 will Shepherd my people this then Herod secretly called a Magi and determined from them the exact times are appeared and he sent them to Bethlehem and said go and search carefully for the child and when you have found him report to me so that I may – that I too may come and worship after hearing the king they went their way and the star which they had seen in the East went on before them until it came and stood over the place where the child was when they saw the star they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy after coming into the house they saw the child would marry his mother and they felt the ground and worshiped him then opening their treasures they presented to him gifts of gold frankincense and myrrh and having been warned by God in a dream not to return to Herod Imagi left for their own country by another way now when they had gone behold an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said get up take the child and his mother and flee to Egypt and remain they until I tell you for Herod is going to search for the child to destroy him so just have gone up and took the child and his mother while it was still night and left for Egypt he remained there until the death of Herod this was to fulfill would have been spoken by the Lord through the Prophet out of Egypt I called my son then when Herod saw that he had been tricked by the Magi he became very enraged and sent and slew all the male children who are in Bethlehem and all its vicinity from two years old and under according to the time which he had determined from the Magi and what have 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 let’s begin our study of this passage following our inductive Bible study method with simple observations no dissent we have the appearance here of Magi or wise men in Jerusalem a tire Wiseman refers to a high caste of mystics who often served as special advisors and administrators to rulers and kings may even notice the Magi sounds like the beginning of the word magic the stood were definitely connected where else have we seen wise men in the Bible Yesi Daniel is one place and a little earlier in the Bible Egypt right with the exes we have the magicians we have the wise and the Pharaoh who are trying to also do miracles but Daniel is the one that earns sorry the Book of Daniel is one where we we see them even more a pagan wise men whether they were religious or priests silver or pagan religion or just people who studied various occult things they often dealt with a stralla ji that is the study of how the stars affect world events this is not astronomy that’s different astrology how did the stars affect the world events and they dealt with the occult but which Jew in the Old Testament also were wise yes Daniel with his friends remember back in Daniel when Nebuchadnezzar says I want all the wise men killed because they can’t interpret my dream who else is going to be killed with that with that group Daniel and his three friends they were in the group of counselors and religious advisors but God gave Daniel a vision so that he and his friends were not killed today were considered to be wise men now notice that these wise men come from the east east is not a very specific term though directly east from Palestine was the land of Persia then dominated by the Parthian Empire now when you think partying basically just think purged Parthian were a group within the Persian Empire that dominated the Persian Empire at that time but know that the Parthian were frequently enemies of Rome they were the enemy to the east now notice for what these wise men are look the one born King of the Jews and how do they know he was born they saw his star and where did they see the stop in East some of the translations say we saw it rise but that would meet in the east that’s where things usually rise from now notice what these wise men intend to do once they find the king of the Jews they intend to worship Him or bow down and reverence it term can mean both of those things how many wise men does the text say arrived in truth very good you know my trick question was coming it doesn’t say the tradition is that only three wise men arrived this number comes from the number of different gifts that appear later in the narrative but nothing in the passage limits the wise men to just three it could have been more but even if there were only three wise men the length of the journey and the importance of these persons these were high-class individuals probably means that they came with a large entourage camels filled with provisions and valuables as well as many servants to ride the camels and to attend to the provisions and to serve the wise men serve these signature dignitaries they’re probably also soldiers soldiers to guard the caravan so the arrival of these wise men these foreign dignitaries with their servants and the guards in the middle aslam would have been very noticeable and unexpected site by the way we sometimes sing the song we three kings around Christmas time but he ever wondered why the song calls them kings nothing here in the text mentions them being kings and wise men while important weren’t not royalty this King tradition apparently comes from early and medieval Christian interpreters who connected the arrival of these wise men with Old Testament prophecies regarding how Gentile kings would one day bow down before the Messiah places like Psalm 72 11 and Isaiah Isaiah 49 7 so these wise men are from the foreign nations and they’re bowing down to Jesus this must be what the Old Testament was talking about these men must be Kings well that’s definitely an interpretive stretch Kings will one day bow down to Jesus but we’re not talking about Kings here these are just wise important but not Kings the idea of visiting Kings though seems to also be the origin of another tradition regarding them names of these wise men you’ve probably heard you may have heard of their names Gaspard Melchior and Balthazar this also comes from early and medieval Christians searching in history from what Kings III could have been you know what Kings were they’re in the area at that time and what their names could have been and that’s where we have this tradition though interestingly that’s only the Western tradition other other places in the world they have different names Imagi so there you go but of course there’s no biblical warrant for those names we don’t know with it work now despite not being Kings the visit of these important Magi with their servants and their soldiers to Jerusalem to worship the new king of the Jews caused an understandable reaction Herod became troubled and all Jerusalem with by the way from the Roman perspective who was supposed to be King of the Jews Herod yes this King Herod isn’t he ruling over the Jews he ruling in the Jewish land isn’t he the King of the Jews Herod speak who’s here ah let’s get some background during the intertestamental period that is the time between the end of the Old Testament and the start of the New Testament intervening period kingdom of Judea had grown from a small Enclave centered around Jerusalem to a great Dominion that included nearly all the originally allotted land of Israel and even some extra territory they had conquered land to the south of Israel under this is under the Hasmonean dynasty that’s just a name for the group of Jewish rulers that came about from the Maccabee in revolt under the Hasmonean dynasty the Jews conquered Adu mia it Amin is just another name for the territory of Edom you may notice it dum sounds like Edom they conquered Adhamiya and they told the conquered also called it a means you better convert to Judaism or you got a leave I gave him an ultimatum well it onmy ins submitted I said alright fine we’ll become Jews and they got circumcised and that’s the it means they became Jews now one it amia raised as a Jew was named Herrick and he climbed the political ladder and he became a governor in the Judean Kingdom Kingdom that was run by the Jews but then civil war broke out civil war broke out between two people rivaling for the Jewish throne rivaling for Jewish control and Herod appealed to Rome for help help support one of the factions Oh Rome decided actually to just make Herod the client king of the whole area will make you King will support you as king just serve Rome’s interests and they gave Herod military support and he put an end to the Jewish Civil War three years later Herod had defeated all the warring factions and established himself as King of the Jews he had with Rome support become the king but was heritage you know kind of it wasn’t a Jew by blood was it amia but he confessed himself along with it means to be a devotee of the Jewish religion he also married the daughter of the previous Jewish king so he could claim before the Jews I am one of you I am a Jew now much of Herod’s behavior called into question this professed religion Herod married ten times and had several family members including one wife and some of his sons killed but at least Herod wasn’t wrong that would have been intolerable long as Herod ruled the Jewish lands Judea could claim that it was still independent even though the understanding was Herod Rome helped you get power so you need to serve Rome need to be a friend of Rome especially as we deal with Parthia Parthia in the east so Herod and Jerusalem are troubled by these wise men inheritance decides to do some fact-finding gathers together the Jewish religious leaders and ask some where is this king this Messiah where’s he supposed to be born what prophecy did they quote to Herod in response Micah 5:2 Micah 5:2 that’s a prophecy that frequently comes up so let’s know that reference Micah 5:2 reveals that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem sis and then he meet secretly with a Magi to find out exactly when the star appeared how old this new king was expected to be and then notice his specific instructions that it gives the wise go to Bethlehem search for the child when you find him let me know why son I too may go and worship Him well this would have been the expected response of someone who claimed to be a Jew if you’re a Jew you were also waiting for the Messiah you would also bow down before the Messiah the one who would redeem is you yeah I’m one of those two so when you find him let me know so I can go visit it for the wise men follow hair daughters head out to Bethlehem it’s only got a five mile trip from Jerusalem and they’re so busy the star which they had previously seen in the east appears and goes on before them until it stops and stands over the place where Jesus is it is a very unusual star and the wise men rejoice exceedingly when they follow the stalks they in their entourage they find the right house they come in they fall to the ground and they worship the Child Jesus and they open their treasures and he presented Jesus gifts of gold frankincense and myrrh each of these items were quite valuable and you know what Gold is you know why that side what about the other two items what are they what are they for why are they buying frankincense the fragrant tree resin sometimes an ingredient in perfume but more often it was a core element in incense in order so the term frankincense has the word incense in it was to word directly connect incense could be burnt produce a special pleasant aroma in one’s home or often used as part of religious ritual I’ll just buy the Jews but others recall that the temple God’s temple included an altar of incense and the Torah even gave special instructions about what kind of instance was the burn ona on that altar and that special incense that puli incense included frankincense as an ingredient that’s frankincense what about myrrh Omer was another kind of fragrant tree resin and it was also used as an ingredient in perfume and in fragrant anointing oils the holy anointing oil of the temple and the tabernacle included myrrh as one of its ingredients myrrh was also used by the Jews as part of embalming dead bodies remember that the Jewish tradition for preparing someone for a grave was too heavily perfume the body with various oils and perfumes so myrrh would be one of the ones that they used wasn’t the only one but it was one of them so both frankincense and myrrh to give off these very pleasant fragrances but they only come from these special trees so they were valuable items and to say it could be used practically but just having them was quite a big deal now how much gold how much frankincense and how much word did the wise men give Jesus the text doesn’t say often you see pictures like little token boxes of these a bit a little bit that might not be a case could have been a lot or it could have been not that much but they gave these gifts I gave these gifts Jesus and then notice despite Herod’s instruction the wise men do not return to Herod why not because they were warned in the dream notice the text italicized as they are warned in a dream by God by God’s italicize when you ever see italics in your Bibles that means that those words are not actually part of the original text but they’ve been supplied by the translators that you can understand this is helpful here because how else are who could possibly have given this dream to the wise men except God wanting them don’t go back to Herod that’s not my intention go another way so this that is warranted here God was the one warning these wise men in their dreams not to return so they go to their country that is this country singular they go to their country by another way a way that did not take them by Jerusalem or past Harry then an angel appears to Joseph in a dream warning Joseph to flee with Mary and Jesus go to Egypt since Herod was going to try to kill the job and notice notice the angel tells Joseph how long is stay there stay there until I speak to you again stay there until I tell you and then notice Joseph immediately obeys it says he got up while it was still night didn’t wait for the morning he’s like whoa I’m out of here let’s go left for Egypt and the family stayed there until the death carrot that’s an angel spoke to Joseph again then Matthew says that this action fulfills what God previously spoke through a prophet out of Egypt I called my son Matthew says what just happened fulfills this now that text that he refers to is it is Hosea 11:1 we’re to come back that way and notice Herod’s response being tricked by these wise men he becomes very enraged as all the male children in Bethlehem in the surrounding region that were two years old or under killed Bethlehem was not that big of a town but you do have these are the surrounding regions so we’re definitely talking dozens maybe even more than 100 children slaughter all of a sudden these male children two years old and I’m I’m sure there wasn’t really even an explanation Matthew notes that this action also is prophetic fulfillment it has prophetic fulfillment specifically from Jeremiah Matthew quotes jeremiah 31:15 says this is the field talk about that later – okay having made our observations having become more familiar with this context let’s ask some interpretation questions by the way an artist depiction Herod nice you alright how did the wise men know that the star meant that the Messiah was born how did they know that a couple possibilities it’s not because astrology is inaccurate science don’t get that idea it may be that God simply chose to use this false pagan science to fulfill his own purposes these wise men they could have an astrologer astrologers look at the Stars they saw the star God says I’m going to cause these astrologers to come to Jerusalem via their own weird science puts the star in the sky they come to Jerusalem and look to the king of the Jews I don’t think it’s quite that simple because even if they knew that a king was born by setting the Stars why come to give this King such gifts and on high make the trek more likely these wise men some degree feared Yahweh and knew something about the coming Messiah from the Hebrew Scriptures now how is it that these wise men in the east perhaps Persians how is it that they could have known something about the Messiah and the Hebrew Bible yes you Daniel right back to Daniel it’s not simply Daniel I mean certainly Daniel was an important guy and a leader the wise men and the other guys Shadrach Meshach and Abednego they were also wise men since I couldn’t have an influence an ongoing influence on the Persian weizen remember the Jews lived in Persia maybe the Jews lived in Persia many of them came back Israel but some have didn’t so you did have that influence of the Jews and of the Hebrew Scriptures even in Persia so we’ve used wise men were somehow exposed to the Hebrew Scriptures and they had some level of fear of Yahweh they may then have combined that fear of Yahweh with their pagan religion in astrology and so when they saw the star state place especially in the sky they said this must be God since I came to Jerusalem to find him that they might worship it’s also possible that these wise men were not pagans at all it just happened to be in Persia and part of that cast but like Daniel and his friends they were true god-fearers and they looked at the sky not due to astrology but due to a statement that was given by Balaam in numbers 24:17 Hermer Balaam was one who tried to curse Israel but God turned it curses into a blessing Oh Balaam by God’s Spirit prophesy and one of the things that he said and numbers 24:17 is this I see him but not now I behold him but not near a star shall come forth from Jacob a scepter shall rise from Israel and shall crush through the forehead of Moab and tear down all the sons of chef’s and we can argue whether that really is a prophecy about the star but you can certainly see perhaps these wise men they could have deduced a conclusion there’s going to be a star connected with the coming of this scepter the one who has the scepter this King it may have concluded there’s going to be a star connected to the coming of this Messiah so if these wise men were indeed god-fearers they therefore when they saw the special star that went to Israel to look for God’s came look for God’s inside now I have to put these out as mere possibilities because the text doesn’t say text doesn’t tell us how much they believe the Lord why they were there but they certainly did come and they’re coming with significant because it declared something about the child’s use that’s our next question what does the visit of the Magi whatever their motivation what does their visit reveal about Jesus Jesus is he is the king of the Jews Jesus is the king of the Jews he is the Messiah remember this is a special emphasis from Matthew in his gospel all the Gospels present Jesus as Messiah but as I argued you before matthew presents Jesus as the true king of Israel whose kingdom will still come it’s no accident that Matthew includes this account further supporting the jesus’ israel’s promised messiah king even the king that will because remember old testament prophecy even the king that will rule the nation’s because it’s not simply that he’ll be the King of the Jews but that from Jerusalem he will rule all the world so considering but this does bring up an interesting idea considering the way that Jesus earthly ministry ends in Matthew what is ironic about having these Gentile wise men who are far removed from Israel far removed from Jesus the King of the Jews what is ironic about how them coming and worshipping Jesus and acknowledging him as king of the Jews who didn’t do that did you what yeah those doing your body those are around Bethlehem those are in Jerusalem he didn’t acknowledge him as King of the Jews may it for a time but ultimately they rejected him yet you have these people who are far off you’d be like how did you end up here they come and they acknowledge Jesus is the king and they respond appropriately to worship and they give gifts another quick question here why is it significant that Jesus fulfills three Old Testament prophecies in this passage I mention that yes you okay yeah I mean we could point to two or three witnesses or to establish things according to the Torah certainly we’re gonna see more of this in Matthew and in the other Gospels but whenever you see fulfillment of the Old Testament by Jesus that just supports the claim of who Jesus is he is the Promised One of God he is the Messiah look it lines up with the scriptures now what kind of star did the wise men see many of succs they come up with an explanation or description of what specifically these wise men saw was it a special alignment of the planets was it a shooting star was it a comet was it a supernova really no natural explanation fits what is described here consider that this star appears in the east and then moves and it moves in such a way that it goes on before these wise men and stops over exactly where the child was now this is a normal star and it’s sitting way up in the sky how is that going to show you exactly where to go in Bethlehem I mean they knew where to go in Bethlehem because that’s the prophecy but where in Bethlehem was this king the star had to specifically point it out somehow that wouldn’t work if it’s just some sorry and a shooting star I mean that couldn’t travel but that doesn’t stay in one place doesn’t stop him stand and point out a house so our best inclusion then is that this star was a supernatural phenomenon uniquely designed by God to be recognized and followed by these wise men from the east now why did the wise men’s arrival trouble Herod and all Jerusalem yeah looted this before but why would that be troubling to him and Jerusalem it was the king so what does this visit of the wise men suggest there’s another king out there there’s another king of the Jews out there and he’s vying for your same position that would definitely be troubling I think that’s the main issue we could also say that perhaps haired and the people in Jerusalem we’re simply not sure what’s going on its entourage if they really came from Persia from Parthia Rome’s enemy it might have been wondering what exactly party is up to party you’re trying to pick a fight they’re saying there’s another King here certainly this visit was unexpected government was not prepared for this partying Caravan if it was indeed partying the simple answer though is I think as you said Herod it was connected with him we’re concerned about the content of the Wiseman’s declaration there’s another King of the Jews that was just born as another claimant yeah so I can understand why Herod might be a little upset why why were two people who think they would Jewish came to come that’s a good question well say something real quickly about that why would the Jews I would Jerusalem also be a trouble we can understand my hair would be but why others it’s because I think the not just hairy but the rulers at the top other Jews connected to Herod’s political establishment or even the chief religious leaders they recognize that a different King than Herod was a threat to the current political and religious establishment as usurper out there who could overturn our position take away what we worked for because remember the words of the Jewish leaders in John 11 48 john 11 48 some of the Jewish religious leaders complain if we let him go on like this all men will believe in him and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation so they saw Jesus as a threat to what had been accomplished we have a Jewish Kingdom we’re nominally independent we have positions within the kingdom there’s suddenly another King of the Jews out there that’s going to mess everything up that’s a threat it’s a threat to what they’ve already established so there were many people not just Herod interesting and maintaining the current situation in Israel maintaining the current system of rule God’s Messiah was like a monkey wrench in their plans think I can freeze I think that is now how should we understand Herod’s statement let me know so I can come and worship it how we’d understand that that’s just straight-up deception we can really later on the passage he has no intention of coming to worship Jesus he’s intending to murder Jesus now what is significant about the gifts but the wise men give to Jesus gold frankincense myrrh do well let’s just okay I’ve heard that they correspond to his offices okay okay yeah we’ll talk about this a second who they correspond to Jesus offices certainly at a basic level what can we say about these gifts they’re precious and appropriate for whom for a king these are gifts it for a king these are valuable gifts fit for a king but you think further significance many have sought to find for the significance in these three gifts in fact if we go back to we three kings there’s actually an interpretation of the gifts in that song Gold is a sign of Jesus kingship frankincense is a sign of Jesus deity after all frankincense is offered up in religious rituals and myrrh is a sign of Jesus sacrificial death because it’s used in anointing ways such a break down is interesting but it’s hard to prove or disprove we might just as easily say but the gold is a symbol of Jesus eternality after all gold doesn’t US frankincense is a sign of his favor with God because that’s one of the reasons that frankincense was given or myrrh is a sign of a saver with men after all his a fragrant perfume and anointing oil and luke says that Jesus grew in favor with God and man or we might say that a gold is a sign of his deity frankincense is a sign of his acceptable sacrifice on man’s behalf and myrrh is a sign of his fragrant gospel to be preached everywhere that you’re seeing that there’s a problem here because we’re basically engaging an allegorical interpretation that’s not based off of any specific details in the passages context or consistent symbology in the scripture so these symbols could mean almost anything therefore I would counsel you do not try to look too deeply into the meaning of these items they’re simply valuable items fit for an exalted King I really don’t have much basis the same women how striking it is that such great gifts are given to a toddler a common house in Bethlehem yet this was appropriate for who this Jesus child really was there is a flavor here surely of those Old Testament prophecies that promise that tribute from the nation’s would be given to the one day coming King of the Jews but those prophecies were not fulfilled here might say that here foreshadowed here they will have their true fulfillment but we do see a flavor of that tribute from the nation’s being brought to King of the Jews you may be wondering what didn’t baby doesn’t do with these gifts all right you have all these valuable items what are you doing them right so that is one tradition one explanation for what happens here again text doesn’t tell us sorry you’re hearing that a lot today we want to know more about the Texas and tell us it could be that these liners were used to finance the flight and return from Egypt it could be other traditions say or it could be that these items were to upgrade the family’s living situation as we saw and loot these Joseph and Mary were poor I had to give the basic sacrifice they couldn’t do the regular one but later on we don’t see that as much we don’t see the signs of poverty in their family did they upgrade their living situation was it the finance of flight for some of these items and there’s a tradition about this where some of these items actually kept and used after Jesus death was the myrrh given by the Wiseman actually used as part of the preparing Jesus for Buri it could be but there’s no way to say Texas neither do any of the gospel areas these items are not mentioned again all right one more question Herod massacred the children of Bethlehem and because he did not know that Joseph and Mary had already fled with Jesus Eric probably thought that he had taken care of the threat to his rule yeah we see in the text God acted preemptively Herod’s plane to eliminate God King actually fail with principle regarding God’s Messiah then do we see here trying to get rid of the Messiah can work in essence this is sovereignty left whatever the Lord says will come to pass exactly we see God’s sovereignty whatever the Lord says will come to pass and what has he already declared I will establish my king I will establish my king that’s all through the Old Testament you remember not too long ago we looked at that specifically in Psalm 2 why did the nation’s rage why did they divide the fame thing they say we’re going to throw off the shackles of God’s King and the he who sits in Heaven’s laughs and he says as for me I have established my king on my holy mountain you can’t oppose God’s Messiah you can’t destroy God inside you can’t prevent him from becoming king God is sovereign goddess he will give the kingdom to his anointed who is this even in Jesus crucifixion both the Jews and the Romans thought that they had successfully gotten rid of God’s challenge to their rule they didn’t want God’s king so they got rid of the Messiah but even their their murder plan failed because what happened Jesus rose from the grave he later sent into the right hand of God where he waits until what yeah until his enemies are subdued and the father gives him the kingdom Cantus of god’s plan he will establish this king can’t stop his King from coming can’t stop his team from establishing his kingdom this is this is a theme I have to route the Scriptures we see it again here even in beginning of Matthew now before we talk about application but do you need to just briefly broach interpretation issue that appears with the prophecies here in our text what is going on with the citations of a 11:1 jeremiah 31:15 if we had time I’d look at each one of these passages in their original context with you but because we need to move along I’m just going to summarize their context and stats please go back and look at the original passages later Hosea 11:1 verses one to five or Jeremiah 11 15 to 20 you’ll see some you’ll see what I’m talking about Matthew seems to cite Hosea 11:1 as the fulfilled prophecy regarding Jesus flight and return from Egypt this is what Hosea pre-pre told Jesus was going to do this anis I was going to do this but if we go back to that verse the context appears to be describing to merely be described describing Israel’s history Hosea 11:1 2:5 describes Israel as being like a lad a son that God brought out from Egypt but who kept straying from God and ultimately refused to listen to God’s Word therefore in Isaiah 11 5 God promises to judge this son by bringing Assyria against the jeremiah citation is similar Matthew seems to cite jeremiah 31:15 as if it were fulfilled prophecy regarding the massacre of the Bethlehem in offense but if we go back and look at Jeremiah 31 16 to 20 or 15 to 20 we see that the original context that statement is God describing the weeping of the mothers as their children are taken away from them and brought into exile actually in the verses that follow God tells them others to stop weeping because God will return those children from exile and restore repentance Israel so what is going on here in Matthew why does Matthew seem to be quoting scripture out of context and saying it’s the fill well to fully or no let me say this this non contextual use of the scripture the Old Testament in the New Testament is a highly contested issue among pastors and theologians today because what lies at the root of this question are fundamental assumptions about how do you interpret the Bible different approaches to hermeneutics have a strong interest in answering this question one way or the other how do the Apostles sometimes use the Old Testament out of context the fully flesh out this issue would take way more time than we have right now so I’m only just going to briefly and basically outline the different approaches to answering this question what is Matthew doing what are the Apostles doing when they do something like this in you test it doesn’t appear all the time in fact you can see even earlier in this passage I mean Matthew 2 he quotes Micah 5:2 which is not out of context at all that’s exactly what Micah prophesied and it was fulfilled and Matthew points out its fulfillment through the Jewish leaders sometimes you have these non contextual uses so what is going on what the different ways we can answer this question we might come back to this and flush this out maybe in a later lesson and you want to borrow a few days but one approach is to say that Matthews simply made a mistake the Apostles made a mistake they were so zealous to show that Jesus looked the fulfillment of the Old Testament that they side the passages that weren’t really fulfilled ok this is a sceptical point of view and we can just didn’t decide because no that’s not about push number two good protest about the original context some say the New Testament authors actually were citing the verses in context we just misunderstood that original context there’s some good men you make this fence and sometimes I believe this is the case you’ll say oh that’s obviously out of context when you go back and look at the Old Testament you say well actually maybe it’s not but there are some cases where if you still try to maintain that defense I don’t know how you do that because it just seems so obviously different I think we see some examples of that here in Matthew 2 the third approach is to find Susan might not allow for hidden meanings that is to say the New Testament author is bringing out another meaning hidden in the original Old Testament text I’ve been prophet prophet that God originally aspired inspired always intended to meetings at least two meanings or the Prophet intended one meaning and God had an extra meaning that was contained in the message of which the Prophet was unaware some good men also take this position and it has various forms the Christocentric hermeneutic probably the most prominent example this kind of approach the fundamental problem with this position is that it violates two basic principles of hermeneutics that is the meaning of the text is the same as the author’s intended meaning is what the author intended to convey and that the an author’s attended meaning is communicated through the use of shared symbols that is through words and syntax that are recognizable to the intended audience doesn’t offer no good to intended meaning that he doesn’t actually communicate to say it another way if I can’t trust what the author actually said to give me his full meaning then how can I ever judge with certainty the author’s full meaning I no longer have an objective standard if it doesn’t come from the words and syntax and I’ll some suggest will we use the New Testament we use the work of Christ as our guide to find these hidden meanings but trying to use the New Testament or even a work of Christ introduces only introduces one to an allegorical and I would say isogenic ‘el free-for-all there’s no real way to objectively judge where or which or how New Testament or christological concepts are hidden in various Old Testament texts now someone will say well we’re not able to discern these hidden messages in the Old Testament but the inspired New Testament authors were the Apostles they’re the ones were able to recognize this we can just trust one day find the hidden meaning okay that is a good concession that is a helpful explanation and if you if you take that view and you limit yourself to that then that there is some commend ability in that but even if you limit the finding of a deeper meaning to the inspired Apostles still have introduced a disconnect between the author’s intent and the meaning of the text and why should all of God’s hidden meanings be limited to the small set of verses that are cited by the apostles not a contextual surely there are more that God met his spot that’s why I don’t take approach three I favor approach number four which is to broaden the meaning of the word fulfill that is to say that the New Testament authors doing something different in these situations than simply reporting the fulfillment of an Old Testament prophecy Old Testament prophecy in its context he’s not changing or adding to the original meaning of the Old Testament text but he is citing an example drawing an analogy identifying a type or something else why I favor this approach is because it allows one to be hermeneutical II consistent it can be consistent in the way that you approach finding the meaning of the text while still explaining the New Testament authors non contextual use of certain passages so how would such an approach explain Matthew 215 in 18 I would like to take more time to really prepare to respond to that but tentatively I’ll just offer and Matthew cites these verses not or magicite these verses to draw comparisons between Israel and Jesus it might go something like this and Matthew 215 Matthew cites Hosea 11:1 not the claim that Hosea originally foretold messiahs journey to Egypt but to highlight how appropriate it is for the king of Israel to journey to and from Egypt just like his people there’s a strong correlation in the Old Testament between King and people whatever is true for the king is usually true for the people and vice versa so perhaps Matthew was citing this passage in the Hosea 11:1 to show that Jesus fulfills that kind of connection he’s just like his people or in jeremiah 31:15 in his citation of jeremiah 31:15 it’s not that Matthew claims that Jeremiah foretold the massacre of Bethlehem’s male toddlers but to highlight that just as judah’s mothers just as Judas mothers suffered because of an evil ruler and they didn’t know about God’s comfort that was about that was going to come to them so Judah’s mothers under Herod suffer do not realize as a comfort of King Jesus it’s going to be available imminent now there’s much more that we could say in these verses and I’m sure there there are many other views but I just wanted to outline for you the basic approaches and what I think is the best if I may say using typology in a careful way it’s not the same as elavil rising scripture that’s right it’s not eisegesis right I think we shouldn’t be afraid of thinking that way just because we’re so afraid of allegorical interpretations right yeah that is useful bill it’s useful to point out that identifying a type or investigating typology is not quite the same as allegories ation because one changes the meaning or adds to the meaning or another just adds to the significance of something that’s why in this last year one of the things that the author might be doing is identifying a type in fact if you look the MacArthur study notes on these two verses I think they take that that these are actually types these two verses are identifying types in the Old Testament what use would do I would probably say more comparison but I understand where they’re coming from so certainly this is unique thing doesn’t appear always in the New Testament but it is a it’s a big question what the new choice and author is really doing but I submit to you they’re not finding a deeper me not finding a hidden me because that that leads to hermeneutical issues all right about two minutes so I’m just going to close you have other questions or comments you can see me afterwards but what is the point of all this what’s the main application we should take away from today’s passage in some ways it’s kind of straightforward it’s about the kingship of Jesus how do you respond to King Jesus Jesus is the king whose earthly kingdom is coming not just for the Jews but the whole world his kingship cannot be stopped but man still tries to resist submitting to or recognizing the installation of God’s King what about you do you acknowledge Jesus as king not over not only over the whole world but over you over every aspect of your life have you happily given everything over to Jesus do you worship and serve Him as is appropriate for who he really is the wise men they gave the gifts that are appropriate they bowed down appropriately do you react appropriately do you give Jesus what he deserves as Lord and God or do you foolishly rebel against Jesus fighting to maintain your own rule as Herod did as the Jewish leaders did remember there’s no neutral ground with Jesus he said he was not with me scatters let us acknowledge Jesus as the rightful king because when we do so instead of being destroyed when he comes he will find a gracious place an undeserved place in his kingdom alright let’s close the prayer my God thank you for this word it is a great word we’d love that you revealed not only that you sent your son as the king as the Redeemer into the world but that you revealed it to us we can know about it we can believe again we know that we must respond appropriately Jesus you are the king we love you you deserve all worship you deserve us figuratively to bow our lives down to you every aspect of our lives but Lord you know that the deceitfulness of sin is great so deliver us from sin deliver us from the lies and Lord Jesus by your spirit caused us to follow after you to serve you to love you as the king just as you deserve in Jesus name you
