|
|
by John MacArthur
Scripture: Matthew 2:13-15
Matthew chapter two. And I'm just having a great time
studying and preparing my thoughts for these wonderful accounts surrounding the
birth of Christ, and I, I trust that the Spirit of God will really minister to
us tonight as we share together in what's really going to be just a Bible study
rather than a sermon, but I think God will bless you in wonderful ways.
Matthew, as we know by now, is presenting Jesus Christ as the King. Presenting
Jesus Christ not only as the King but as the King of Kings, not only as the King
of Kings but as the anointed of God. In other words He is God's special choice
as King, the monarch of all men, the monarch of all time, the ruler of the
universe. And Matthew is starting out from the very beginning of his Gospel, of
his look at Jesus Christ to do this. He just begins that way and the flow of the
Kingship of Christ, the royalty of Christ, the regency of Christ just goes right
on through all 28 chapters. And even surrounding the birth of Jesus Christ it is
Matthew's special emphasis that we would see Jesus as King.
And so in chapter 1 you'll remember he introduced Jesus as King by virtue of His
birthright, and he traced very carefully the royal genealogy beginning in 1:1 of
Matthew moving right on down to verse 17 we find that Jesus was born of the
royal seed, He was born of the royal line, He had the right to reign, the right
to rule in Israel. We also saw that His virgin birth in chapter 1 verses 18 to
25 was a confirmation of His royal right. God by-passed a certain curse in the
virgin birth which freed Christ from being disqualified and left Him with the
right again to the throne. So in the genealogy as well as the uniqueness of the
virgin birth we learn that Matthew is emphasizing Christ as King.
Now as we come into chapter two we find again that Matthew is emphasizing that
Jesus is King, and he really does it in two ways, way number one we've seen in
the first 12 verses, and that is he shows us the royalty of Christ because he
has these Magi who are the official recognizers of kings in the Oriental world
coming and recognizing Christ as King. In other words it is Matthew's way of
saying, He was a King because that's what the world said, and the world is
represented by these wise men, these Magi who came from the Orient, they were
the official Persian king makers, nobody was a king in that part of the world
unless they said so, nobody was a king unless he had been trained in their law,
and when they said somebody was a king he was a king. And so Matthew says, even
the Persian king makers saw Him as a King and they came and worshiped Him giving
Him gifts verse 11 says, of gold and frankincense, and myrrh. And of course the
first of those gold, being fit for a King.
But there's a second way that we saw that unfolds in this chapter that shows us
that He is a King and that is by the antagonism of Herod. If He wasn't a King
and He didn't have a right to reign then why would Herod be so upset? It's a
backdoor approach on Matthew's part but nonetheless he makes the point. He is a
King, not only by virtue of homage, but He is a King by virtue of hatred. You
can see His Kingship by the fact that these important people recognize Him as
King and you can see that He's a real King, because the king who is in His
place, the false king, the usurper as it were, Herod who has no right to reign
in Israel, who is an Edomite not even a Jew is threatened seriously by the
existence of one that he fears really has the right to be the King of Israel. So
both by homage and by hatred Matthew is pointing to the royalty of Jesus Christ.
It was a reason for worship and it was a reason for fear, on the part of Herod.
And then there is a third thread that weaves its way to the 3rd chapter in
presenting the royalty of Jesus Christ, and that is that He fulfills Messianic
prophecy. In the Old Testament God laid down some prophecies regarding the
coming King. Matthew selects four of these prophecies, and we're going to look
at those tonight, he selects four of these prophecies as another way to say that
this is indeed the King. He is a King because He is born a King, He is a King
through the virgin birth, He is a King because He has the genealogy of a King,
He is a King because the Persian king makers saw Him as one, He is a King
evidence by Herod's fear of His taking his throne, and He is a King because He
fulfills the royal prophecies, the prophecies that spoke of this one who was to
come. And so Matthew continues then, to reinforce the Kingship of Jesus Christ.
And in our text tonight we're going to see the extreme to which Herod went to
kill the one that he feared had the real right to the throne. And we're going to
see that thread, and we're also going to see the unfolding of these four
prophecies in which the coming King is presented.
Now let me add this, somewhere around three hundred and thirty two Old Testament
prophecies are made concerning Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ fulfills something
about three hundred and thirty or thirty two prophecies. Now Matthew just picks
out four of them, but these four are so unique, and so complex that there is
literally no way they could have happened by accident. There is no possibility
that these four things could have been true of any one individual just by
chance, the chance of that is so infinitesimal it couldn't be reduced to
numbers, even though there are only four. And when you think about three hundred
and thirty two it absolutely boggles your brain.
Now the style and structure of these four prophecies indicate to me at least
that this is a literary unit, that Matthew is purposely doing this, Matthew is
not just floating around here and picking things out of the air he is really
committed to presenting these four things, and they wind their way through
chapter 2 beautifully showing us four specifics about the King.
Now note this, each one of them is attached to a geographical location. And
again that helps us to see that Matthew is really developing a literary thought
here. Each of them has a geographic location, all of them focus on Jesus Christ.
Now the four locations that he deals with are Bethlehem, Egypt, Ramah and
Nazareth. In fact these four places will be significant in the birth of Christ.
Now that in itself is something amazing. Most people in their birth are
associated with only one location. Jesus, it says in the Old Testament, the
anointed, the Messiah, the Mashiahthe Christ, the King, the one who is to come,
the great prophet will be associated with Bethlehem, Egypt, Ramah and Nazareth,
all four of those things will have a place of significance in His birth. And as
I said, the chance of anybody having that in that order and that sequence as it
appears here is infinitesimal, it must be by the plan of God. And it becomes one
of the greatest evidences in all of the Gospel of Matthew to the royalty of
Jesus Christ.
Now let's look at these, they are so specific as to eliminate any pretender, and
so specific as to solidify the real claimant to the throne, the Lord Himself.
Let's begin with the first one, we'll call it the birth at Bethlehem, the birth
at Bethlehem, and for that we'll back up from where we're going to spend the
time tonight into verses 4 to 6, because that's the first unit looking at it
from this perspective.
And here we look back to what we saw in our last studies together, verse 4, now
Herod is upset as the Magi arrive in Jerusalem looking for this King that they
say has been born, they have seen His star in the east and they know that He has
arrived, and they want to know where, and they arrive with this entourage of
Persian soldiers and steeds and the whole thing, and Herod is really upset. Step
number one in Herod's mind is to determine where this threatening King is to be
born, he's got to find this baby and kill it. Even though he's at the end of his
life he's so paranoid about his power and position that he wants to do the baby
in, so in verse 4, "He gathers the chief priests the scribes of the people
together, and demanded of them where the Christ should be born." Isn't it
interesting that he equated this King of the Jews that the Magi talked about
with the Christ, the Messiah, the anointed one? He knew that and so did they,
that this was one and the same. And so he was fearful, he had heard enough of
Jewish prophecy, he had been exposed enough to Judaism in his years in the ah,
position of, of authority that he had to know they were anticipating a Messiah,
and now when he knew the Messiah came or feared that He came, he wanted to know
where so that he could kill that baby, and so he called a high level meeting of
the chief priests who were the politicians, and the scribes who were the
theologians and demanded where He was to be born.
Verse 5, "And they said to him, In Bethlehem of Judaea; for thus it is written
by the prophet." Now Micah was the prophet who wrote that. The prophet Micah, in
fact that is stated in Micah chapter 5 and verse 2.
Now let me tell you a little about Micah, because you need to know this as we
look at the prophecy. Micah was a prophet who thundered judgment, and Micah's
judgment's were directed against the false prophets and the false rulers and the
false teachers of his day. In Micah chapter two for example in verse 1, "Woe to
them that devise iniquity, and work evil on their beds! When the morning is
light, they practice it, because it is in the power of their hand. And they
covet fields, and take them by violence, and houses, and take them away; so they
oppress a man and his house, even a man in his heritage. Therefore, thus saith
the LORD: Behold, against this family do I devise an evil, from which ye shall
not remove your necks, neither shall you go haughtily; for this time is evil."
In other words, he looks at these leaders, these lords, these princes, these
rulers who are usurping lands and taking fields and taking homes, doing what
would be perhaps called a dictator, ah, the role of a dictator and he says, I'll
judge you.
Chapter 3 verse 1, "And I said, Hear, I pray you, 0 heads of Jacob, you princes
of the house of Israel, Is it not for you to know justice? Who hate the good, and
love the evil; who pluck off their skin from them, and their flesh from their
bones; Who also eat the flesh of my people, and flay their skin from them; and
they break their bones, and chop them in pieces, as for the pot, and like flesh
within the caldron." Boy, that's pretty vivid. He says, you're literally rippin'
my people apart, tearin' their skin off, tearin' their flesh off their bones and
eating them and boiling them in a pot. This is the, this is the beginning of
God's judgment. Verse 9 of 3, "Hear this, I pray you, ye heads of the house of
Jacob, princes of the house of Israel, that abhor justice, and pervert equity.
They build up Zion with blood, and Jerusalem with iniquity. Their heads judge
for reward," in other words, they're bribed to judges, "their priests teach for
hire, her prophets divine for money; yet will they lean upon the LORD, and say,
Is not the LORD among us?" They get real pious. "No evil can come upon us.
Therefore shall Zion for your sake be plowed like a field, Jerusalem become
heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places of the forest." It's
goin' become barren.
Now these are the judgments that Micah thunders against the false teachers.
Having done that, he moves to an era in the future, when there will come a true
teacher, when there will come a true ruler, and a true King who will reign with
goodness and justice, and he speaks of that One further in the Book, and in
speaking of that One who is to come, that great and glorious One who is to come
in the last days as he begins chapter 4, he opens up the look at the last days,
and as he speaks of the One who is to come, we come down to chapter 5 and verse
2, and as we arrive at chapter 5 verse 2 we find out that this is the place
where this One who is to come will be born. "But thou, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
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." And here is the eternal King, the Son of God,
the eternal second person of the Trinity who is to be born, and He is to be born
in one little place called Bethlehem, little among the thousands of Judean
cities and villages. And so as Micah looks down through the centuries he sees
the birth of the King, he sees the birth of the King and connects it with an
obscure place.
And so that's the first prophecy that Matthew deals with and just to make sure
that it's emphasized properly I don't think, I don't think that the uh, the
chief priests and the scribes really quoted the prophecy in this text anyway, I
think they just said in verse 5, look at it, Matthew 2:5, "They said to him, In
Bethlehem of Judaea; for thus it is written by the prophet." And then I believe
Matthew adds verse 6. Matthew gives the quote, "And thou Bethlehem, in the land
of Judah, art not the least among the princes of Judah; out of thee shall come a
ruler that shall shepherd my people, Israel." And Matthew takes a little of the
license of inspiration, since the Holy Spirit has inspired him as much and
equally as Micah, then he has the right to do a little bit with Micah's prophecy
and add some things that are specifically stated for the time, while at the same
time calling reference to Micah. And so Matthew quotes Micah 5:2, and says, out
of Bethlehem Jesus comes, little insignificant Bethlehem from which no one would
expect a great monarch, from which no one would look for a King. And that's
precisely from where the King will come. The King comes to Bethlehem, the birth
is Bethlehem. Mark it. Nobody throughout all the history of God's dealing with
Israel whoever claimed to be the Messiah has any right to that claim if he was
not born in Bethlehem. That's the place. The King comes to Bethlehem, the birth
is there.
Now let's move to the second prophecy. We've already discussed that one in great
day... depth. The birth at Bethlehem, and in that birth we see homage from the
wise men, hatred from Herod. But we see prophecy number one fulfilled. That's
important to Matthew, the King will come to Bethlehem, mark it. Jesus did. Now
number two, the first is the birth at Bethlehem, the second I call the exodus to
Egypt, the exodus to Egypt, now we're in verse 13, and we pick up the text where
we haven't been yet. Verse 13, this is sometimes called the flight into Egypt,
and I always think about the picture a little kid drew in his Sunday School
class, teacher said, uhm, I want you to draw a, a picture of the flight into
Egypt, and it should be done like the Bible says. One little kid turns in a
picture and the teacher looked at it and she was aghast, had a 727 jet, and uhm,
four people in the cockpit. And she looked at the little kid and she said, what
is this? He said, this is the flight into Egypt. She says well uhm, who are
these people? Oh, he said, that's Joseph and Mary and baby Jesus. And he said,
but, but who's this other person? And he said, oh that's Pontius the pilot. Not
exactly the Biblical flight into Egypt.
Wha...what happened in the exodus to Egypt? This is fabulous, fascinating
fulfillment of prophecy. The coming of the Magi, and I believe when the, when
the Magi finally got to Bethlehem, and they were in a house by then and the
child was some months old, I think that must have been a time of great joy, a
time of great comfort, because Joseph and Mary up to that point hadn't ... as
far as we know Biblically had had really no confirmation of that great message
they'd heard from the angel. They really had known from God through the angel
that this child was to be the Son of God, Immanuel, God with us, the Savior and
all that, but I imagine finally when the, when the Magi came and affirmed that,
and confirmed that that it was a great time of confidence, a great time of joy,
a, a great time of, of positive anticipating hearts. They must have remembered
then the wonderful words spoken by the angel to Joseph, by Gabriel to Mary, by
Elisabeth to Mary, by the shepherds to Joseph and Mary, by Simeon, and thought
and it's all true and here it is confirmed with these men,but Simeon you
remember had also said, that a sword was going to pierce Mary's soul.
And it wasn't very long after the wise men arrived and it was all confirmation
and joy and happiness and positive and, and, and wonder, and they were so
thrilled and comforted that they indeed were, were right on the right track and
these people from the Orient were confirming it, but it wasn't long after that
until the sword was drawn and it began the beginning of its piercing. And we
find it immediately in verse 13. "And when they were departed," that is the wise
men, the Magi, "an angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying,"
and remember now, this is not a dream like you think of a dream, this is a
semiconscious state where, where the... there is not a dreamed up idea in the
fantasy of the human mind, there is an actual confrontation with an angel.
Something unique to Biblical periods of ref...of, of revelation, it happened to
Peter when he was trying to get some sleep up on the roof top in Joppa. And it's
happened time and time again, it happened to Daniel, Abimelech, Jacob, Joseph,
Laban, the butler and the baker. It even happened to Pharaoh and there are times
when God does this, and this is one of those times, and there are multiple times
that He spoke in a dream around the birth of Christ. And so it was a special
kind of dream and an angel appeared to Joseph. And he said, "Arise, and take the
young child and his mother," and note that every time you'll see those two
together you'll always see the child named first, because He is the story. "Flee
into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word; for Herod will seek the
young child to destroy him."
Now the wise men or the Magi departed according to the beginning of the verse.
And they got away, they were warned of God verse 12 says in a dream also that
they shouldn't return to Herod and they departed their own country another way.
The devices of men can never thwart the plans of God, as Pharaoh was pra ... was
prevented by God from destroying the Israelites by a divine intervention on
God's part. So Joseph is divinely warned to escape just as the wise men were.
God is protecting His Son, God is protecting the Messiah. And the land of Egypt,
which had once been a place of bondage and a place of oppression now becomes a
haven, it now becomes a home, it now becomes a hiding place, it now becomes a
refuge for the little family, escaping from imminent danger.
The word departed is interesting, just as a footnote, the word is anachōreō, not
that that's important except for you Greek students, but it is used elsewhere in
the Gospel of Matthew twice, and both times it means to run away from danger.
It's a specific word that implies danger, to, to run away or to move away or
depart from danger. In fact just to give you one illustration, Matthew 4:12,
"When Jesus heard John was cast into prison, he departed into Galilee." In other
words, Jesus knew when they threw John into prison that He was in danger and so
He moved away. It's a word that means to flee in view of danger. And so they
knew the danger and they fled. They went back to their country another way. And
once they had gone, the angel came again and told Joseph to flee.
Notice the word... he says, Arise, and take the young child and flee.
Interesting Greek word, pheuga from which we get what? Fugitive. Flee, it's a
present imperative which means it's continuous action, begin the process of
fleeing it was a long trip. Seventy five miles to the border of Egypt and at
least a hundred miles further into the heart of the land, could be a hundred and
seventy five miles that they went, and that would take days and weeks, because
they couldn't move too fast with a baby. And they were to flee to Egypt, a trip
of many, many days.
Now let me talk about Egypt for a minute, at this point in history so you'll
understand what's happening. Egypt was a natural asylum for the Jews. Especially
from the time of the Maccabean revolt, now let me give ya a little background
real quick, won't take me but thirty seconds. Between the Old Testament and the
New Testament there was a period of rule in Israel in which the Greek government
ruled. Rome we find ruling in the New Testament, the powers in the Old are
Babylon and MedoPersia, that little gap in the middle is Greek power. During the
Greek period there was a revolution, that revolution was lead by some people
named the Maccabees, a Jewish family. They sort of got the revolution going. And
from the time of that Maccabean revolution in what's called the intertestamental
period, many Jews at that time began to flee into Egypt.
Even prior to that, how mark this, even prior to that Alexander the Great had
set up the fact that Jews could live in Egypt, in fact ah, in one particular
city of Egypt which was his special city, have you heard of the city of
Alexandria? He named it that after himself. And so when he conquered Egypt he
set this city together, Alexandria and he allowed the Jews to have that city as
a place of refuge, they could go there, they could come there, they could
populate that area. And many Jews had fled, in fact most historians believe that
the Qumran community, the Qumran community is the community that was located...
it was a sort of a an ascetic, sort of monastic ah, sort of uhm, hermit type
group of Jews that lived on the edge of the Dead Sea. They were the scribes who
copied down the Old Testament, which was found and is now called The Dead Sea
Scrolls, that came out of the Qumran community. And most historians believe that
the Qumran community never even came...they fled, long ago and they never even
came back till long after Herod was dead. As long as th...as Herod was ruling
there, more and more Jews were fleeing into Egypt. It started in the Maccabean
period and then there was a trickle and then under Herod there was a bigger than
a trickle, and most people believe that it wasn't until about 31 or so, about 31
B.C. that ah, Qumran community finally bailed out and then they came back after
Herod was dead. So normally the fleeing people went right south into Egypt. So
it became filled literally with Jewish residents from the period of the
Maccabees on. And ah, they had equal privilege in fact ah, Alexander the Great
said, we'll give them equal privilege with Macedonians, and he was a Macedonian.
It's interesting too, I think for you to remember that in 150 B.C. that's a
hundred and fifty years before Christ, the Jews actually were given their own
temple in Egypt, a separate temple was built for them there, so that they could
prosper as a community. And in fact in 40 A.D. which would be just after the
death of Christ, Philo, the historian says there were at least one million Jews
living in Egypt. So Egypt became rather highly populated with Jews, and it was a
place of refuge and a place of safety and security where he wouldn't have to
fear anything.
And I personally believe that the gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh were
God's provision for the little family so that they could dwell in Egypt, because
that would be very valuable. And no doubt they could sell that or trade that off
for the things they needed to live on, at least until Joseph could find some
work for the months in which he was there. But the main reason they were
directed there was not because it was a nice place for Jews to live, not because
you could get out from under the oppression of Herod uh, the main reason they
went there was simply because that is exactly where the Old Testament said the
Messiah had to go. Now I'm not sure they knew that, at the time in fact I'm
pretty sure they didn't know that because of the obscurity of the Old Testament
text, but God knew it and God was working out the plan.
You know I used to wonder ah, years ago when I was just little why in the world
they had to go all the way to Egypt. Why didn't God...you know I use... I'd read
about Jesus passing through the multitude and they couldn't touch Him, and then
I read about Philip who was up in Gaza and the Holy Spirit picked him up in some
kind of a, I don't know celestial space ship and zapped him down to the, to the
desert, he was up in the north and He took him down in the desert area. And I
often thought to myself, well why didn't God just do that? Just pack that little
family up and spin 'em up in space and hold 'em if He needed to in sort of like
a divine helicopter until everything settled and drop 'em back again, or why did
they have to take this long trip? But I think it was just part of the humanness,
it was just part of the identification with the vicissitudes of life. This was a
child like every other child dependent upon its father and mothers care, and
they had to take care, and they had to make the move, and they had to walk and
carry the baby the way any normal child would be carried, that's part of God
becoming man and human experience was required in all points, and so I think
they just did what any family would do.
Now Herod wanted to kill them and Herod was just a pawn, it wasn't really Herod
it was the devil, it was Satan who was a murderer, read Revelation 12 and you'll
find in Revelation 12 the whole story of how the devil continues to want to
murder Christ. You've got the dragon chasing the child in Revelation 12 trying
to kill Him. And so they were, they were then sent into Egypt, and notice the
end of the verse, "Be thou there until I bring thee word; for Herod will seek
the young child to destroy him." God knew Herod's mind, God knew Herod's plot,
he couldn't be a hypocrite with God, he couldn't fool God at all. The angel
said, I'll be back, and you stay there till I come back and give you further
word. So there was a promise that the angel would return.
Now people, it is absolutely incredible what some pea brain people have come up
with about what went on in Egypt. Let me just say this, th...the only thing we
know about what went on in Egypt is in verse 13, now does that tell ya a lot?
Flee into Egypt. Stay there till I tell ya. That's it! And yet there are
literally volumes written on what went on in Egypt. In fact there is a book
called The Gospel Of The Infancy Of Our Lord, which discusses His life in Egypt.
It's a spurious or a phony work like many phony books that grew up in early
times. But it says that wherever the little child walked idols automatically
fell apart. It says that Jesus uh, when He was just very little eh, in Egypt ran
across an Egyptian priest who had a three year old possessed of demons, and
Jesus took a piece of His swaddling clothes, at this time He was still crawling,
and put the swaddling clothes on the head of this demon possessed three year old
and it was instantly delivered.
And anywhere Mary went, not the lamb was sure to go, that's another false story.
Anywhere Mary went, anybody who looked at her was healed. And anywhere the child
went robbers fled into the desert. And all manner of diseaseswere healed
wherever He went. Now that's just craziness. We don't know any of that. Celsus
is quoted by Origen, the early church father as asserting this, quote, "Jesus
having been brought up as an illegitimate child and having served for hire in
Egypt, and then coming to the knowledge of certain miraculous powers in Egypt
returned thence to His own country and by means of those powers proclaimed
Himself a God." In other words, He went to Egypt to learn magic, and you know
what the Talmud says? The Jewish Talmud says this, Ten measures of sorcery
descended into the world, Egypt received nine of them and the rest of the world
one.
Now the Jewish rabbis in the Talmud believed that Egypt was the center of
sorcery, and there were many Jews that taught that Jesus went into Egypt when He
was young, learned sorcery came back out and conned the world into believing He
was the Messiah. Now that's a Jewish teaching about Jesus Christ, and they get
that all in the white spaces in verse 13. He went into Egypt.
Well, all we know about it is that He went into Egypt, and that's all we know.
And He stayed there, but believe me He didn't learn sorcery and come out and con
the world by His magic. He went to Egypt because that was a part of the
prophecy. Joseph obeyed the angel, verse 14, "When he arose, he took the young
child and his mother by night, and departed into Egypt." He went, in the
darkness it says, by night, they escaped. And I'm sure they didn't tell anybody,
because if the word got out at the pace they could go which would be so slow,
Herod's soldiers would be hot on their trail and it would be a disaster, and so
I'm sure they just stole away at night and never told a soul.
And by the way, Matthew omits the details because he's not concerned with the
details he's concerned with the prophecy. Now look at verse 15, "And was there"
departed into Egypt, "And was there until the death of Herod," stop there. They
stayed till Herod died, and I don't believe it was very long. He died shortly
before the Passover in March or April of 4 B.C. it would just be a very brief
time, maybe a couple of months. It's hard to be sure but that might be a fair
guess.
Look at verse 19, which picks it up again, it says, "When Herod was dead,
behold, an angel of the Lordappeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt." So it was
when Herod died that the angel came back and said, now you're alright, now you
can go. So sometime after they left Herod died, and then the angel appeared.
But why did they go to Egypt? What was the prophecy? Look at the end of 15, all
of this, not that they might be saved - God could have done that anyway He
wanted, you see God wanted to verify the credentials of the Messiah, and so He
attached it to a prophecy, and it says, "In order that it might be fulfilled
which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet," listen, that's one of the
most important statements you'll find anywhere in the Bible, because it tells
you that the prophets who wrote the pages of the Word of God were inspired by
God Himself. "Spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have
I called my son." In other words, the Old Testament prophet was saying that the
Son, the King, the Anointed, the Mashiah, the Christ is to come out of Egypt.
Well listen, how could the child come out of Bethlehem and out of Egypt unless
God worked some marvelous circumstances? God had set it all up long ago with
Alexander the Great. God got Egypt ready, for His couple of months stay, when He
came there as a child. God runs history, and it all comes together in His plan.
"Out of Egypt have I called my son." Where's that come from? Hosea chapter 11
verse 1, Hosea chapter 11 verse 1.
Now I want you to see something of the context of that prophecy. Hosea 11:1
says, "When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of
Egypt." Now notice something very interesting there. To whom does He refer in
Hosea 11:1? Who is the son there? Israel. Who is the son here? Christ. How can
that be? Some people have said, well now wait a minute. When the prophecy was
given it was given in reference to a historical state at about Israel, there's
not even a prophecy there. It's a past thing, "When Israel was a child, then I
loved him, and called my son out of Egypt." And, and - any Bible scholar who
studies the Book of Hosea will simply tell you, God is reflecting upon the time
when He called Israel out of bondage in Egypt.
Now what's the prophecy? It isn't future, how does it relate to this thing? Well
that's what we want to talk about. Let me give you the message of Hosea for a
minute. He's one of my favorite prophets, and I'm sure would be one of yours if
you read his Book with diligence. The message of Hosea is one of failure, it's
one of decadence, it's one of tragedy in Israel. Hosea looks at Israel and says,
you've been disobedient, you've been unfaithful, you've been sinful, you've been
decadent. In fact he says, you are spiritual ... you are a spiritual harlot, you
are a spiritual prostitute, you are a spiritual adulteress, he says to Israel.
In fact this is the worst condition Israel's ever been in, when Hosea writes.
Now he is pouring out against Israel these judgments, you harlot, you
adulteress, you prostitute, you whore is a term that's used. This is what you've
been, unfaithful to God who betrothed you. Racing after false gods who've become
your lovers.
Hosea really, really dramatically illustrates this with his own life. God
brought into his life the most tragic personal experience you could ever
imagine. He married a woman and her name was Gomer, that's a bad start. But
anyway he married her.And she was untrue, andshe became what the Bible calls a
wife of whoredom. She ran off after every lover that she wanted. She went after
so many lovers. I'm sure Hosea lost count, she conceived children by these
lovers, and dear Hosea's heart was so filled with love for her, he just waited
and took all of this abuse, and it shattered his heart. But he loved her so
much, she finally wound up in a brothel, she finally wound up in a house of
prostitution selling her body. She was a slave to the sins of the... of sex.
But he deeply loved her, and dear old Hosea instead of rejecting her, instead of
turning her off, instead of walking away found her at the haunt of her shame.
Sought her out, went in there and laid out 15 pieces of silver, and brought in a
homer and a half of barley and paid, and said, here, I'm going to buy her back.
And he bought back that harlot, he bought back that prostitute, restored her to
the place of his wife, restored her to the place of honor, and gave back to her
all the love that she had spurned. That was his own personal experience. And he
says to Israel, he says look, when I talk to you about how God's heart is broken
by your spiritual idolatry I know what God feels, I've been there. That's what
he's saying. Just as Hosea had married Gomer, God had become Israel's husband,
just as Hosea loved her God loved Israel. Just as Gomer was unfaithful to Hosea,
so was Israel unfaithful to God. Just as Gomer was enslaved by her lovers, so
was Israel enslaved by her idolatrous idols. Gomer put her trust in lovers and
they made her a slave, Israel put her trust in idols and they made her a slave.
And just as Hosea's tender love reached out and bought back his wife, so Jehovah
reached out in love and took back the remnant that was willing to come back.
That's the message of Hosea.
So when Hosea's heart was broken, when he had seen the idol and the ideal of his
dreams wrecked before his eyes, when he had suffered the worst agony that a
human being could ever know, then God said Hosea, now you know how I feel, now
be my preacher. Now tell 'em, what's in my heart, now make 'em understand. And
this tragic training of the prophet is at the heart of his message. And God
wants Israel to know how much He loves 'em, and God wants Hosea to know how much
He loves them, and God wants Hosea to know how much this hurts, and so He says
in 11:1 look, "When Israel was a child, I loved him," this love affair for an
adulterous wife goes all the way back to when Israel was a child, and it was
then that I "called my son out of Egypt." This isn't something late, this isn't
way down the line, this isn't sort of the last lover in a long line, this is the
one that I started to love when Israel was a child. In other words, this passage
emphasizes the incredible love that God has for Israel, and always has had, from
the time Israel was just a child, and in bondage in Egypt, held under the power
of Pharaoh, it was then that God set His love and sought to redeem His people.
Deuteronomy 32 says, "For Jehovah's portion is his people; Jacob is the lot of
his inheritance. He found him in a desert land, and he kept him as the apple of
his eye." In Exodus 4:22 God said, "Israel is my son, Israel is my first-born."
Now go to Matthew and let's see the connection.
When Matthew quotes Hosea, and applies it to Christ, what's that saying? He says
here, this is th ... "that which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet,
would be fulfilled, Out of Egypt have I called my son." And here beloved, you're
introduced to one of the most fabulousconcepts in all the Bible. We call it
types, Israel is a type of whom? Christ. You know what a type is? A type is a
nonverbal prediction, it is a nonverbal prediction. A prophecy is a verbal
prediction of a future event. A type is a nonverbal prediction. There are texts
in the old Testament that tell us God is going to send a Savior who will die,
there are other texts that don't say that, they just tell us about the sacrifice
of a lamb' but every little lamb that ever died was a picture of who? Jesus
Christ. A nonverbal picture. And listen to me, nonverbal predictions called
types in the Bible are no less potent, no less powerful and no less direct than
a verbal prophecy.
One of my favorite studies is the study of types. I remember doing a paper in
seminary which was so rich for me. I've read in that area, because it fascinates
me. A great book by Patrick Fairbairn on types. There's been tremendous effort
given in that field. And I'll tell ya what I believe, about types. I believe...
I'm kind of a narrow guy on this, I believe the only types, legitimate true
types are those stated in the New Testament to be a type, okay? Otherwise, we're
going to do havoc with the Old Testament. You know every hair on somebody's head
is a picture of something. We'll, we'll go wacko if we're not under control. So
I believe that types are ultimately, now listen, types are ultimately fulfilled
in and only in the New Testament writers definition. So that Israel is a type
because Matthew inspired by the Spirit of God here makes Israel a picture of
Christ. What they were without even saying it, is a picture of what He will be
as God called His son Israel out of Egypt that is a picture of what He'll do
when His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ is called out of Egypt, do you see? That's a
Biblical type. Nonverbal prediction.
And by the way, Christ and Israel are often closely identified in the prophetic
word. For example in the Book of Isaiah sometimes it's hard to tell whether the
servant is Israel or the Messiah, cause He calls both of them the servant of the
Lord. Israel is God's child and God's first-born and so is Christ. Israel is
called out of Egypt and so is Christ. Beautiful picture. Joseph, you remember
was a type of Christ, because the New Testament says that. Did you know that
even Jonah was a type of Christ, because the New Testament says that, as Jonah
was three days and three nights so shall what? The Son of man be. He was a
picture.
Dr. Gaeblein says quote, "Israel's history beginning with Egypt has been a
history of sin, disobedience, apostasy and shame, therefore, the true One had to
come, the true servant of the Lord in obedience, obedience unto death, He had to
go through the history of His people." I like that. Jesus actually went back
through the history of His people to fulfill the type, the picture. And just as
Pharaoh that cruel king had tried to destroy Israel, so another cruel king by
the name of Herod was attempting to kill the Son of God. Just as God protected
His son Israel in Egypt and delivered them, so God protected Christ His Son in
Egypt and delivered Him. The Messiah is a recapitulation of the picture in
Israel, a type. And believe me don't you ever underestimate the solidity and the
absolute nature of Biblical types. When the New Testament writer says, that's a
picture, that is what it was intended to be.
And I think that ... there's a sense in which the type here is even more than a
type. Because there's a sense in which the bond is closer than that. Israel is
not only a type of Christ, there is almost a bond that's in... indivisible in
this sense, you see Christ was in the loins of Israel then, and if Israel had
never been brought out of Egypt He would never have even been born, so He was
really there in a sense. Had Israel been destroyed the Messianic prophecy could
never have been fulfilled at all. So when Israel was called out, Christ came out
then with them, didn't He?
So the message of Hosea was long forgotten. The time of degeneration went on
even to Jesus' day. The days of Israels' whoredom and prostitution were still
going on. But finally the prophecy of Hosea came back like a bolt of lightning
out of the sky, "Out of Egypt have I called my son." As of old God loved Israel
when a child and brought him out of Egypt, so now His love centers on the
Messiah, He brings Him out of Egypt.
In fact beloved, let me tell you something, the great prototype of salvation in
the Old Testament is the act of God delivering Israel from Egypt, that's the
prototype. Let me add a footnote, and I love this thought. When the Lord Jesus
returns in righteousness to reign over the earth, when He comes as King of Kings
and Lord of Lords, did you ever notice what the prophets tell us? Just mark
these down Isaiah 19, Zephaniah 3, Isaiah 19 and Zephaniah 3, you know what they
tell us? Listen to this, don't look 'em up just listen, when the Lord Jesus
returns to reign in righteousness over the earth, one of the nations that is
going to be given a special place of blessing in the millennial kingdom is
Egypt. Did you know that? You say, Egypt? Oh man! You mean Egypt, the Egypt that
held them in bondage, oppressed them, made them make bricks without straw, you
mean rotten idolatrous phony Egypt?
Lately we've been hearing all about King Tutankhamen, all that baloney about
life after death and solar boats and so forth, and we say Egypt, why in the
world would Egypt, ever have a place in the millennium? They've been so hostile
to Israel. Could it be, could it be that the blessing of Egypt in the millennium
is a token of divine gratitude for a country that granted sanctuary to the Son
of God, when He was a baby? Maybe.
So, the birth at Bethlehem, the exodus from Egypt. Let's pray.
Lord I just feel in my heart overwhelmed again, at how beautifully, marvelously,
carefully You plan history. Every little piece, history is really His story. You
set the boundaries of the nations, You chart the course of men, kings and
slaves. And You take the wrath of men and make it praise You, You turn it all
around. Thank You for the King who came because the prophet said He'd come to
Bethlehem, and who came because the prophet said He'd come to Egypt. Thank You
that this eliminates the pretenders, and solidifies the rightful King. Thank You
that Jesus is the one who fulfills, at least three hundred and thirty two
prophecies, and who fulfills more than that, that deep hunger and need in the
heart of every man who comes in faith. And Father, we can't help but realize too
that if He's a King, and He is that Kings require worship, homage and obedience.
And since He's a King of love such obedience and homage is a joy. We hear
Matthew, we hear him as he lifts high the banner of the King and cries that we
crown Him. No matter what the world does, oh there are always Herod's, there are
always the chief priests and the scribes in any age misguided, some hate, some
are indifferent, but there are always the wise men who come and worship, because
they see that this is the King. Thank You Father for how clearly Your Word has
painted the picture so that we could never miss, and as the Old Testament says,
"A wayfaring man though he be a fool, need not err." Help us to crown Him in our
lives, King. We pray in His name, Amen.
© 2011 Grace to You. All rights reserved.
See Also:
Part-2: The King Fulfills Prophecy, Bible Study of Matthew 2:16-23 by John MacArthur
The central theme of all Old Testament prophecy is the coming King, the coming King who will rule in God's promised kingdom. If there is one major emphasis of all Old Testament prophecy it is that God is going to set up His rule, God is going to have a kingdom like no other kingdom has ever been, and there will be a very special individual who will be the King in that kingdom, and that individual of course is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ Himself.John Chrysostom Homily on Matthew 2:11-15
And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother.
Christmas Home | Sermons Home | General Sermons and Essays | Articles Home | Library - Home
-------
Malankara World
A service of St. Basil's Syriac Orthodox
Church, Ohio
Copyright © 2009-2020 - ICBS Group. All Rights Reserved.
Disclaimer
Website designed, built, and hosted by
International Cyber Business Services, Inc., Hudson, Ohio
