Prophecies Fulfilled

Transcript

GR 650
11/13/1983
Prophecies Fulfilled
Matthew 2:13-23
Gil Rugh

The first two chapters of the Gospel of Matthew lay the background of the birth and early days of Jesus Christ. The theme of Matthew's Gospel is that in Jesus Christ we have the One who is the long-prophesied King of the nation Israel. He is the One of whom all the prophets spoke saying He would come to rule and reign in glory. He is the One who was born of the lineage of David. He is the one who was born of a supernatural birth demonstrating that He is not only the human King of Israel but He is the divine Son of God; He Himself is Deity. Not only will Christ be King, but He will also be the Savior, the One who will bring salvation to His people.

In our previous study we saw some of the attitudes of the people toward Jesus Christ.
The magi, wise men who were astrologers and scholars from Babylon or Persia, had come to offer their worship and praise to Jesus Christ. Though foreign Gentiles, they had prostrated themselves before this young baby and acknowledged Him to be the Lord and King. They worshipped Him with gifts befitting both His Deity and His humanity.

The response of those who were closer to the prophecies of the Old Testament is rather different. The Jewish people who had studied the prophecies of His coming were indifferent and unconcerned. After telling the wise men from the east that the Messiah was to be born in Bethlehem, the Jews had no further interest in Him. No delegation from Israel or no representatives from the Sanhedrin went to Bethlehem to find out if the Messiah had been born. The Jews were totally apathetic about the birth of Jesus Christ.

The reaction of Herod was just the opposite. He responded with hatred and opposition. He was totally opposed to any idea that there could be a Messiah or King apart from himself, so he launched a campaign to destroy Jesus Christ.

Herod's opposition to Jesus Christ will become even more clear in the section before us in this study. As a Gentile, Herod was despised by the Jews. He was an Edomite who ruled over Israel by virtue of the authority of the Romans. As an Edomite, he was not a Jew, though he was a descendant of Abraham's grandson, Esau. The promises and privileges of the Jews came through Abraham, Isaac and Jacob to the 12 sons of Jacob. Esau, Jacob's twin brother, sold his birthright and the privilege of being in the line of the promised people. Just as Abraham had other sons, Ishmael being the most famous, as well as others by his second wife, Keturah, none of them were considered Jews. They were not in the line of the promise.

Jesus Christ was born, in all probability, during the last year of the life of Herod the Great. During this year his vileness reached its peak as he attempted to hold on to his power. When Herod found out he had been deceived by the magi, he was so concerned that their testimony regarding the birth of the King of Israel was true that he was willing to exterminate all the male children under two years of age in Bethlehem and its surrounding region. It is amazing that a man could have such a concern that what the Bible says is really true, yet have such hatred and opposition to what it says. You would think that Herod, if he had used the great brilliance and intelligence he had, would have realized that if God had destined this baby to be the King, there was really nothing he could do to stop or resist the purpose of God. Here was a man who was going to be dead in less than a year. Yet he was willing to launch an attempt to murder the prophesied Messiah of the Old Testament in order to hold on to his throne a little longer.

If you stop for a moment and consider the situation rationally, you will realize that there was no hope that Herod would live long enough to be threatened by this King who had just been born. He was already 73 years old and dying. Herod knew he would be dead by the time this child reached 20 or 30 years of age. Even though he would be dead himself, he wanted to pass his throne on to his children. But remember, Herod did not have great fondness for his children, either. One of the Roman emperors said that it was better to be Herod's pig than Herod's son.
He was not a great family man. In his jealous attempts to guard his power, he executed three of his own sons as well as his wife, his mother-in-law and a number of others around him.

After finding that the magi were not coming back to inform him of the whereabouts of Jesus Christ, Herod launched his program of extermination. As you might expect, if God had prophesied -- and He had -- the birth of His Messiah in Bethlehem, God was sufficiently powerful to bring the plans and purposes of Herod to naught. Matthew 2:13-15 tells us, “Now when they...” -- the magi -- “... 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 there until I tell you; for Herod is going to search for the Child to destroy Him.' So Joseph got 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 what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet: 'Out of Egypt I called My Son.'”

Herod thought he could stand against God and bring the prophecies of the Old Testament to an end by keeping them from being fulfilled. But his sinful conduct and his sinful response to those events was used by God to bring about the fulfillment of yet another Old Testament prophecy -- "Out of Egypt did I call My Son.” Isn't it amazing how absolute the control of God is, even down to the most minute detail? Here was Herod thinking he could frustrate the plan of God, but even his sinful activities simply fulfilled another prophecy regarding the Messiah.

After being instructed by an angel in a dream, Joseph awoke in the middle of the night, gathered Mary and Jesus and fled quickly to Egypt. Egypt was a relatively close place to flee, and it was outside the region of Herod. Though he was called the king of the Jews, the Romans gave Herod the privilege of that title only because he ruled over the Jews. His domain was limited to Palestine. The Romans would not have tolerated Herod's trying to extend his influence or control outside that region. So in going to Egypt, Joseph, Mary and Jesus were quite safe. There was also a large Jewish population there during this time, so it was relatively easy for them to blend in with the rest of the Jews in that area and remain hidden for a while. According to verse 15, they stayed in Egypt until the death of Herod.

The quote at the end of verse 15, taken from Hosea 11:1 -- "Out of Egypt did I call My Son" -- is a reference to the historical deliverance under Moses of the nation Israel from bondage in Egypt. This seems to be a strange connection in this context. If you were to read the book of Hosea and come to chapter 11, verse 1, you probably would not recognize it to be a Messianic prophecy. The same is true of a number of prophecies in the Old Testament. But here in Matthew 2:15, the Spirit of God makes clear that God had a more direct purpose when He prophesied this statement through Hosea. He was not simply relating a historical event. He was revealing what was going to happen to His Son.

One commentator said this is just another example of Matthew trying to make a prophecy out of something that is not a prophecy. This commentator obviously does not understand the inspiration of the Scriptures. Matthew, under the control and inspiration of the Spirit of God, who superintended the writing of the Old Testament as well as the New Testament, gives added insight to much of what was prophesied. Through the writing of Matthew, we understand that Hosea 11:1 has a more significant meaning than we might have formerly understood.

These passages are connected in that the nation Israel in many ways pictures Jesus Christ. The nation Israel was pictured as the firstborn son of God. Exodus 4:22-23 refers to Israel as God's firstborn: "Then you shall say to Pharaoh, 'Thus says the Lord, "Israel is My son, My firstborn. 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."'" In this analogy,
Israel is shown to be God's son, His firstborn. In the full, more real sense, Jesus Christ is literally the Son of God, His firstborn. This is the point of the comparison. Israel, the typical son of God, had been taken to Egypt to preserve the nation and spare its people from the famine that swept the land. They were kept and protected in Egypt until the time God called them into the land of Israel again. In the same way, Jesus Christ, the One who is the ultimate and complete Son of God, God's firstborn, was taken to Egypt and preserved there and then was delivered from Egypt and brought into the land.

Notice Hosea's words in Hosea 11:1: "When Israel was a youth I loved him, and out of Egypt I called My son." When Israel was a youth, God called him out of Egypt. Now here was Jesus Christ, the young child, being called out of Egypt. This is the ultimate fulfillment of Hosea's prophecy which was looking forward to the Messiah. It is not hard to see the comparison Matthew draws between Israel and the Messiah.

In Matthew 2:16, we see the reaction of Herod to the deception when the wise men failed to return to him: "Then when Herod saw that he had been tricked by the magi, he became very enraged..." This reaction was characteristic of Herod. His rage, often seen by his flying into violent passion, got worse in later years. This pattern is characteristic of sin. That is why it is so important to nip sin in the bud. The longer you tolerate sin, the worse it becomes.
There is nothing worse or more ugly than sinful conduct, tolerated throughout a life, that is manifested in a person of older years. Herod’s cruelty and hatred poured out of him in violent ways during the closing years of his life. Just a few days before his death, when he heard that one of his sons wanted to succeed him, he had a surge of strength and pulled himself together to give orders for his son's execution. Somehow sin can give extra strength on occasion, it seems. It did for Herod.

After becoming enraged, verse 16 says that Herod "...sent and slew all the male children who were in Bethlehem and all its vicinity, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the magi." You may remember that Bethlehem is a small town five miles south of Jerusalem. In Bethlehem and its surrounding area, Herod had soldiers execute any male children under two years of age. The last phrase of verse 16, "according to the time which he had ascertained from the magi," refers back to verse 7 where Herod asked the magi what time the star appeared. By determining how long ago the star had appeared, Herod could figure out the approximate time of the birth of Jesus Christ. This does not necessarily mean that Jesus Christ was two years old at that point. He probably was younger. Herod was of such a character that he was not going to make a mistake. So if he figured that Jesus Christ was about nine months or one year old, it would have been characteristic of Herod to allow enough leeway to be sure of including Christ in those who were killed -- thus his command to slaughter all of the male children two years old and under.

You may ask if a man could really do this. Some have questioned the validity of these statements because these events are recorded nowhere outside this passage of Scripture. There is no secular history recording the events of such a massacre at Bethlehem. But if you take time to read about the life of Herod, you realize that as awful as this was, it was a rather minor point in Herod's life. In spite of pieces of art you may have seen where hundreds of children were slain by the soldiers, there were probably only about 20 infants who would have been included in this massacre. That does not mean that it was not awful, but it was not a massacre of great magnitude. Larger numbers of people were executed by Herod and his family on other occasions, so in comparison, this tragedy was not as bad as the others.

The number of children killed at this time can be roughly estimated by determining what the population of Bethlehem would have been at that time, then figuring from that. The highest number given by commentators for those slaughtered is about 30, the lowest six. So somewhere between five and 30 children were probably included in this execution carried out by Herod's soldiers. This would have been a tremendous tragedy. Imagine coming into a town like Bethlehem and seeing all the male children two years of age and under being executed by Herod.
Could he get away with that? There was no one to question him or to challenge him. It was not a great enough issue to bring the Romans into it. Herod was too firmly entrenched with the Romans for this to be a big issue, so the male children were executed.

With these very actions, Herod was fulfilling Old Testament Scripture. We saw its fulfillment earlier when Herod's response necessitated the flight of Joseph, Mary and Jesus into Egypt. Now we see its fulfillment again in the murder of those children at Bethlehem. Herod thought he would annihilate the Messiah for sure. But what did he do? He fulfilled Old Testament prophecy. Matthew 2:17-18 includes a quote from Jeremiah 31:15: “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.’”

The historical reference was to the events surrounding the Babylonian captivity. Rachel, Isaac's wife, was viewed as the mother of the nation weeping over the nation. Rachel, the one who had been barren and later blessed of God to bear children, died in the birth of her second son. We learn in Genesis 35:16-20 that she was buried in the region of Bethlehem. Now she is viewed as weeping for her children. As Jeremiah wrote his prophecy, Rachel is seen weeping for the destruction of so much of the nation under the Babylonians, but this event was not the ultimate reference. Jeremiah was looking forward to the time when Rachel would weep at Bethlehem for the destruction of those who were no more. She refused to be comforted because they had been destroyed. You can imagine the great mourning and weeping that would occur in Bethlehem as those young children were murdered by Herod.

The writing of Josephus about Herod give us some interesting insight into that man.
When Herod was on his deathbed, he had his people gather up all the key men from all over the nation Israel. Then he had them brought to Jericho and imprisoned. He gave instructions to his family that all the key men in prison in Jericho were to be executed in conjunction with his death. He knew something of his popularity. He knew there would be a memorial at the time of his death, but he was afraid it would be a time of celebration. So he figured that if he had all of those people murdered in Israel, he would be assured that there would be mourning upon his death. That order was not carried out because when Herod was dead, he was not there to enforce the edict, so those people were set free. Such actions fit well with Herod's character

The sinful acts of this wicked man were used by God to fulfill His plans and purposes. Even the wicked, sinful acts of men cannot frustrate God's plans, but they are used by God to carry out and fulfill His plans. Keep in mind that Matthew's purpose is to drive home the point that Jesus Christ was the fulfillment of prophecy. Even the suffering surrounding His coming fulfilled Old Testament prophecy.

Notice the phrases, "but when Herod died” in verse 19 and "until the death of Herod"
in verse 15. These statements are striking reminders that in spite of all the power he had, in spite of all his workings and efforts, Herod could not prevent his dying. What is Herod noted for now? His cruelty and foolishness in trying to kill Jesus Christ. He was the One who could have brought life to Herod, the One in whom Herod could have had forgiveness and cleansing. The magi went and worshipped Him, but Herod tried to kill Him. Now Herod was dead.

As mentioned earlier, Josephus' account of Herod is very interesting. He wrote of numerous people who were executed by Herod before his death. On one occasion, he had a golden eagle constructed over the main gate of the temple. Such an image was an abomination to the Jews, especially over the gate of their temple. As Herod was on his deathbed, some of the key teachers encouraged their students to take the eagle down, assuring them that even if they got killed while doing it that they would be certain of gaining eternal life because it was such an important deed. Herod responded to that by having the key perpetrators burned to death. Even though he was on his deathbed, he was capable of these kinds of violent acts.

Josephus gives us the account of Herod's death: "After this distemper seized his whole body, and greatly disordered all its parts with various symptoms; for there was a gentle fever upon him, and an intolerable itching over all the surface of his body, and continual pains in his colon, and dropsical tumors about his feet, and an inflammation of the abdomen, -- and a putrefaction ... , that produced worms. Besides which he had a difficulty of breathing upon him, and could not breathe but when he sat upright, and had a convulsion of all his members; insomuch that the diviners said those diseases were a punishment upon him for what he had done to the rabbins. Yet did he struggle with his numerous disorders, and still had a desire to live, and hoped for recovery, and considered several methods of cure." Herod went to hot baths in certain places trying to find a cure, but he died an ugly, awful death. Yet, in the midst of all this, Herod tried to hold on to life.

Isn't it amazing that when it comes right down to it, men want to live. They fear dying. Only God in the Person of His Son, Jesus Christ, can give victory over death. Only those who are believers in Jesus Christ have real hope even in the face of death.

And there was Herod, in all his suffering and torment, trying to hold on to life, trying to hold on to his throne at all costs. And well he might, because that was all he would ever have for all eternity. No wonder he tried to hold on to that throne to the end. That was all he had.

When we were in Israel a few months ago, I was impressed with Massada. We visited the remains of the palace Herod built there. After viewing the mosaics in the floor, one can imagine how magnificent that palace must have been. But it is a good reminder of how temporal all of this is. As you look at it today, all that is left of the great, magnificent palace of Herod the Great is ruins. How futile was his life. There he was within a few miles of the One who is life eternal, yet he tried to kill Him. Herod the Great died at the age of 70 in 4 B.C.

We can read in Acts 12 about the death of his grandson, Herod Agrippa. The saying is true of these Herods, "Like father, like son, like grandson." Acts 12 informs us that Herod Agrippa delivered a speech. The people wanted to curry his favor, so verse 22 says, "The people kept crying out, 'The voice of a god and not of a man!'" The people were saying, "This is not a man speaking, this is a god!" Verse 23 continues, "And immediately an angel of the Lord struck him because he did not give God the glory, and he was eaten by worms and died.” Do you remember the putrefaction Josephus wrote about that produced worms in Herod the Great at the time of his death? Here his grandson, willing to accept the honor of Deity, is eaten by worms and dies. History tells us that Herod Agrippa died a very sudden and ugly death in a very short period of time.

Matthew 2:19 picks up the events after Herod's death: "But when Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, and said, 'Get up, take the Child and His mother, and go into the land of Israel; for those who sought the Child's life are dead.'" We are not told how long the family was in Egypt, but evidently it was a relatively short period of time -- perhaps weeks or months. The time was probably no longer than this because Christ was born in the last year of Herod's life. Thus the death of Herod occurred a short time after the family arrived in Egypt.

The phrase "into the land of Israel" in verses 20 and 21 is unique in Matthew's Gospel, and it draws attention to the place of promise and fulfillment. Verse 22 indicates that Archelaus, one of Herod's sons, was then on the throne. Archelaus was a wretch just like his father. Herod had already killed three of his sons, but he had 10 wives, so he was not out of sons yet. At his death, his kingdom was divided among three of his sons.

In these events, we can see what the family of Herod was like. Right up to the end of his life, there was bickering and fighting about who was going to succeed him. Five days before his death, Herod executed one of his sons who was to be his successor. So at the time of his death, three of his sons marched off to Rome each to argue why he ought to be the successor. Caesar simply divided the kingdom among the three of them. Archelaus was the one who received the region of Judea and Samaria. Bethlehem and Jerusalem were included in the parcel of the kingdom that went to Archelaus.

Another son, Herod Antipas, got the region of Galilee and the family title. He was the one who was the key Herod throughout the Gospels. Jesus later referred to him as a fox. This Herod ruled in the northern region of Galilee from 4 B.C. to A.D. 39 -- a long rule. Herod Antipas ruled even longer than his father, Herod the Great, who ruled for about 37 years. Herod Antipas will be a key figure later in our study of Matthew's Gospel. Another son of Herod the Great, Phillip, got some of the northeastern territory of Palestine.

Before leaving for Rome after the death of his father in order to try to argue his case for why he should succeed his father, Archelaus took control in the region of Judea. But before he left, he executed 3,000 people at the temple. We referred earlier to the gold eagle that had been placed over the temple gate. That eagle had been taken down and people were rumbling about Herod's execution of those involved in taking it down. There was some resistance to the executions at a public gathering at the Passover at the temple. The people were clamoring for the punishment of those who had murdered the ones who took down the eagle. Archelaus' way of dealing with this resistance was to surprise them right there on the temple grounds. Thus the execution of up to 30 babies in Bethlehem was not so outstanding as far as history was concerned in the lives of Herod's family.

Archelaus came to the throne in 4 B.C. In A.D. 6, the Jews and Samaritans joined together -- imagine the Jews and Samaritans getting together on anything -- and agreed that Archelaus was such a vile person that they could not stand him any longer. So they went to Rome and argued their case before the emperor. At that point, Archelaus was deposed and sent into exile by the Roman emperor. That was where the Roman governors took over Judea and where Pontius Pilate entered the picture. Instead of putting another one of Herod's sons in control of the region of Judea, the Romans took it over and put it under the authority of a Roman governor. The most famous of these, as far as we are concerned, is Pontius Pilate, who will come into play at the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.

Because Archelaus was in control of this region, Joseph was afraid to take Jesus to Bethlehem. Archelaus had already manifested something of the character of his father. This situation was used of God to send them north to the region of Galilee, to the town of Nazareth, Joseph's home town. According to Luke 2, this is the town Joseph left when he went to enroll in the census at Bethlehem just before Christ was born. He decided that rather than return to Bethlehem and continue his trade, he would return to Nazareth. This fulfilled what Matthew wrote that the prophets -- note the plural -- had said at the end of verse 23: “...He shall be called a Nazarene.”

There is no particular Old Testament Scripture that ever said Jesus would be called a Nazarene. A Nazarene is not the same as a Nazirite. Nazirites took certain vows, including vows not to cut their hair and not to partake of strong drink. Jesus Christ was not a Nazirite; however, there is some connection in these words because they come from the same Hebrew word netzer, which sounds similar. Isaiah 11:1 says He will be "a shoot”, netzer, a small branch. But the similarity in sound does not seem to be what is in view here. The point seems to be, especially since Matthew refers to the prophets in plural, that the thrust of the Old Testament prophets is on Jesus Christ being despised, reproached and rejected. That is what it meant to be a Nazarene.

In John 1:46, Nathanael, when told about Jesus Christ, asked, "Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?" In Chapter 7, the people said that Jesus Christ couldn't be from Galilee and be the Messiah. Their concept was that those who were from Nazareth were the low, reproached kind of people. The point of His being called a Nazarene seems to be that He was regarded as one worthy of reproach, one who was despised and rejected. That was the emphasis of the Old Testament prophets. Let's consider two examples.

Psalm 22 is a Messianic psalm anticipating the coming Messiah. Verses 6 through 8 speak of His rejection and how He was despised: "But I am a worm and not a man, a reproach of men and despised by the people. All who see me sneer at me; they separate with the lip, they wag the head, saying, 'Commit yourself to the Lord; let Him deliver him; let Him rescue him, because He delights in him.'"

Isaiah 53 is perhaps the most familiar of the Old Testament passages referring to the suffering and rejection of the Messiah. Verses 2 and 3 say, “For He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of parched ground; He has no stately form or majesty that we should look upon Him, nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him. He was despised and forsaken of men, a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and like one from whom men hide their face He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.” That is the emphasis that pervades the prophets. When they speak of Him as a Nazarene, they are referring to one who is despised and rejected of men.

When Archelaus succeeded his father, even his despicable character was used of God to further direct events in the early life of the Messiah that perfectly fit the Old Testament prophecies and promises. Why? Because Jesus Christ is exactly who the Scriptures say He is. He is the One promised and prophesied in the Old Testament. He is the One sent from God as God's Son. He left the glory of God's presence and became a man so that He might be identified with mankind. He offered Himself to Israel as their Messiah and King that He might be rejected and crucified, thus paying the penalty for the sins of mankind so that God could offer salvation as a free gift to all who would believe.

Such events fulfilled the prophecies of the Old Testament. Now the emphasis is clear of such passages as verse 15, "Out of Egypt I called My Son”; verse 18, "Weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children," and verse 23: "He shall be called a Nazarene." This is all evidence built by Matthew to demonstrate that Jesus Christ is the One who Scripture says He is.

What is your response to the One who fulfilled what God prophesied centuries before His birth? Have you believed in Him and trusted Him as your Savior? Or are you continuing to resist and fight against Him? You cannot fight against God and be successful. God's purpose and plan will be accomplished. The One who rejects the Son of God will not see life, but the wrath of God will abide on him. You can fight against Jesus Christ. You can reject the Word of God. You can be adamant against what the Word of God says. But you cannot escape hell. God will be true. He always wins.

The gracious thing about all of this is that salvation is offered in this One. You can believe in Him and have eternal life. God offers the evidence for us to consider. He does not ask us to believe blindly, but He asks us to believe. He demands of us faith in His Son, Jesus Christ. Have you believed in this One who is indeed the Messiah, the Savior, the Lord of Lords and King of Kings?