Sermon 1/14/07-Out of Egypt, Pt. 2
Intro: Chapter 2 matt. Focuses on 4, each is very specific and unique,
They could have only been fulfilled by the one who is the Messiah, each focuses on the early life of the Messiah and attaches it in some way to a specific location-Bethlehem, Egypt, Ramah, and Nazareth.
Review:
Four prophecies fulfilled in chapter 2 of Matt.
The first prophecy of chapter 2 is found in verses 5-6-birth in Bethlehem-already seen how that was fulfilled.
Last week looked at
The Messiah would be called out of Egypt (vs. 13-15)
Rachel weeping for her children (vs. 16-18)
Today:
C. The Messiah would be called a Nazarene (vs. 19-23)
Read Mt. 2:19-23
Not long after ordering the murder of the infants Herod became ill and died in 4 B.C. at the age of 69 at his palace in Jericho.
When most xians first learn that Jesus was most likely born anywhere from 6-4 B.C. they are confused and some skeptics use this as an argument against the reliability of Scripture, but there is really a very easy explanation.
Goes back to the development of the calendar that we use today.
The first person to develop our current system of dates (AD /BC) was Dionysius Exiguus in 525 AD.
-the Romans had developed the dating system used throughout the western world, AUC-latin for from the foundation of the city. For them the founding of Rome was the central event in all of history. Dionysius believed that it would be more reverent for dating to begin with Jesus birth rather than the foundation of Rome.
-used historical records available to him & he determined the birth of Jesus had occurred on December 25, 753 AUC (approx. 754 years after the founding of Rome). That placed the beginning of the Christian era on jan. 1, 754 AUC, or under the new dating system January 1, AD 1.
But it turns out that Dionysius did not have all the historical data now available to scholars to make a more precise dating.
We now know that King Herod died in march/April 750 AUC. Since Matthew states that Jesus was born while Herod was still alive, Jesus was actually born according to the Roman calendar between 748-750 AUC, 4-6 years earlier than Dionysius’s calculations. Thus a more accurate dating of jesus birth places it in 5-6 BC. This has nothing to do with the accuracy of the biblical records, only the historical accuracy of the well-intentioned but misguided Dionysius.
So with Herod dead, the immediate danger to Jesus was over and the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph once again and told him to take his family back to Israel.
But we see in verse 22-that Joseph still had reason to be cautious regarding where he was to settle in Israel. Because as verse 22 states the new ruler in the region where they had previously made their home was Archelaus.
2 events from his life that highlight why Joseph didn’t want to settle in the region where he was ruling.
After remaking his will many times, Herod had finally settled on dividing the kingdom between 3 of his sons-Herod Antipas-Galilee, Herod Philip-area further north, and Herod Archelaus-Judea, Samaria, Idumea.
None of them were happy with the arrangement and they all decided to go to Rome and contest the will. Before they could go a small rebellion arose in Jerusalem.
-it was a reaction to one of Herod the Great’s numerous acts of brutality.
-before Herod died, had executed two popular Jewish rabbis, Judas and Matthias, they had stirred up their disciples to tear down a Roman eagle that Herod had erected over the temple gate. Now because of their execution a rebellion broke out the following year during the Passover, Archelaus sent in soldiers and they executed some 3,000 Jews, many of whom were simply Passover pilgrims and who had no part in the revolt.
-so with the rebellion quelled, Herod’s 3 sons went to Rome to contest the will.
-also a small delegation from one of the towns in Judea that went to try and persuade Caesar not to appoint Archaleaus ruler over them.
-Caesar upheld Herod’s will and Archaleaus was appointed ruler over Judea, Samaria and Idumea.
-not pleased with those who had gone to Rome to oppose him and upon his return he sent his army to their village and not only had them killed but everyone else in the village as well.
This on top of another 2000 people that were crucified as a result of riots that broke out while the 3 brothers were in Rome. So you can see why Joseph would have been fearful of settling in the region where Archelaus would have been ruling.
Side note: Because of his cruelty, eventually the Jews and the Samaritans, who hated each other, united and went to Rome to request Caesar remove Archelaus as ruler. Caesar, fearing a revolution from the people, deposed Archelaus and banished him in 6 A.D. From then on the rule over Judea was passed to Roman rulers called prefects, one of whom was Pontius Pilate(26 A.D.-36 A.D.)
So the angel tells Joseph not to settle in Judea but to go instead to Galilee, where Mary and Joseph settle in a little town called Nazareth.
How many took my challenge from last week to find the prophecy referred to here? Impossible to find this exact quote because this quote is not in the Old Testament. It seems that Matthew is alluding to a general concept that is found in several of the prophets, throughout the Old Testament
So what does he mean in verse 23?
-Been suggested it has to do with Jesus’ taking the vows of a Nazirite. Not likely, since there is no record that Christ ever did such a thing.
-A second possibility is that since Nazareth was a place people made fun of-as in Nathaniel’s remark “Nazareth? Can any good come from there (Jn. 1:46)-that Matthew is referring to the many Old Testament prophecies that say the Messiah would be despised and is telling us that these prophecies would be fulfilled, in part, by Christ’s having the burden of being a resident of Nazareth.
-The third possibility is that Matthew is speaking of the prediction that the Messiah will be a netzer (branch) from the stock of Jesse, King David’s father same root word as Nazareth; look at
Isaiah 11:1 “There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.” Uses Hebrew word netzer for branch. 2 others of the many that use synonyms.
Jer. 23:5 “Behold the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.”
Zechariah 6:12 “And say to him, ’Thus says the Lord of hosts, “Behold, the man whose name is the Branch: for he shall branch out from this place, and he shall build the temple of the Lord.”
The only place the Hebrew netzer is used in reference to the Messiah is in 2 places in Isaiah, but synonyms for branch are used in the other two as well as numerous other OT prophecies So the idea is clear that the OT prophets said that the Messiah would be a netzer a branch of Jesse.
-most likely that Matthew is combining the second and third alternatives by means of a wordplay, a technique very common in Jewish writing, including the Bible. Jesus is both a netzer (branch) and a Natzrati (Nazarene).
Over the last 2 weeks we have seen through these prophecies:
II. Three demonstrations of God’s sovereign control
God worked even through wicked kings and foreign rulers to fulfill prophecy and see that Christ was born in Bethlehem, was called out of Egypt and grew up in Nazareth.
Know that :
III. God daily demonstrates His sovereign control in our lives.
Story of God’s hand-Schubert how God brought them to Sun Valley
How God brought us to Lifegate.
Call to ministry-Western Baptist College-Yakima-Talbot-stop at Winlock on way home-hwy 12-6 mos. Later call to Winlock as Youth Pastor-visit Dave & Trish in Yakima-set me up with Melea-married-time to move-looking for next position-not finding anything-Melea’s Dad calls has a friend who knows a pastor at this church in California-called to SCBBC-6 wonderful years-during which start EPIC-preach & plan and lead-develop passion for senior pastor-refining process of search, interviews, candidating-WBC job board-only job from there that I followed up on-coming and God’s timing for the transition and the changes.
God has brought us here and He will continue to lead us into the future.
