Matthew 2:13-2:23 God Speaks
1. How Does God Speak to People?
Nabeel Qureshi had ben raised as a Muslim in the United States and used to defiantly defend his faith in debates. However as he investigated the evidence for what he had been told he began to have real doubts. However to become a Christian, which seemed more rational, was a hurdle too far as it would mean going against his family, his friends and all he had stood for and even risk being killed as an apostate. He asked God for a dream to show him what he should do.
He then dreamed he was standing outside a narrow arched doorway, just wide and tall enough for him to pass through. This archway was 5 to 7 feet deep. On the far side were several round tables all prepared for a feast, with people sitting around the food. Everyone was in fine clothes and they were waiting for the owner to enter. That room was definitely heaven. Then he saw his friend David was blocking the way in, he couldn’t get past him.
“I thought we were going to eat together’
“You haven’t responded” David replied.
Nabeel just knew that he had not responded to Jesus’ invitation. He then woke up. He called David and told him the dream, asking what it meant. David replied:
“This dream is so clear. I don’t need to interpret it for you. Just go to Luke 13:23-25.”
There Nabeel read these words, words he had never read before:
“Someone asked him (Jesus), “Lord, are only a few people going to be saved?”
He said to them,“Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to. Once the owner of the house gets up and closes the door, you will stand outside knocking and pleading, ‘Sir, open the door for us.’“But he will answer, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from.’”
He knew this message was from God, God had told him plainly where he stood. Nabeel responded - but only by asking for another dream!
A little later, when driving his car, he prayed,
“God, I know what I need to do but I need time to mourn.”
He went back to his apartment, took out both his Qur’an and his Bible and asked God to comfort him. When he opened the Qur’an, looking for something to comfort him, he realised that there was not a single verse in the Qur’an designed to help a hurting man - not one. He concluded,
“This book does not apply to my life”
He then took up the Bible he had been given and started to read the New Testament, starting at Matthew chapter 1. That was a genealogy so he skipped that. He came to Matthew chapter 5 and read:
“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.”
This phrase jumped of the page, Nabeel realised Jesus had said that for him. Then he read on till he came to Matthew 10 where he read:
“Whoever acknowledges me before others, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven. But whoever disowns me before others, I will disown before my Father in heaven.” Matthew 10:32-33
By this time Nabeel knew that the good news about Jesus was true but he had never openly acknowledged his commitment to Jesus. But then the thought came to him:
“If I do this I will have to give up my family.”
He then read the next verses:
“Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to turn a‘man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law - a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.”
Anyone“ who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matthew 10:34-37
He realised that he would be putting at risk not only his relationship with his family but also his whole life. He read on:
“Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it.” Matthew 10:38-39
He knew this was true, so he got on his knees and prayed
“Lord, I believe you are Jesus. I thank you for taking my sins when you died on that cross and that you rose from the dead. I want to follow you with my life.”
From that time on his life changed. He began to see the world as Jesus did. When he saw someone walking across the road he realised:
“That is someone Jesus was willing to die for.”
Nabeel went on to become a great advocate for his Lord. His story is written in his book, ‘Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus.’
What is striking in Nabeel’s story is that the dreams he had were all supported by Scripture.
Joseph’s dreams
Joseph had four dreams in these first two chapters and all of them are buttressed by what the Scriptures teach.
1.When Joseph was disturbed when he learned that his betrothed was pregnant and angel reassured him in a dream (Matthew 1:20-21). What is striking is what Matthew then says
“All this took place to fulfil what the Lord had said through the prophet: ‘The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel’ (which means ‘God with us’).” Matthew 1:22-23
2. After the Magi had left and angel told Joseph to take his wife and baby Jesus down to Egypt as Herod wanted to kill the child (Matthew 2:13). This move was again reinforced by Scripture:
“And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called my son.” Matthew 2:15
Matthew then explains that even the subsequent slaughter of the innocents was a fulfilment of Scripture:
“Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled:
“A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning,
Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.” Matthew 2:17-18
3.When in Egypt angel again appeared to him in a dream to return to Israel as Herod the Great had died (Matthew 2:19-20).
4.When he heard that the tyrant Archelaus was now king, Joseph was again told in a dream to travel to Galilee (Matthew 2:22). This again was explained by Scripture:
“. . . and he went and lived in a town called Nazareth. So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets, that he would be called a Nazarene.” Matthew 2:23
There are many ways God can speak to people, but any dream or whim must be cross checked to ensure it is in accord with the will of God in Scripture. Satan can also use such means to delude people but Scripture has always been the Lord’s reliable authority.
2. The Flight to Egypt - a New Beginning
There are over 50 paintings by Masters of this desperate scene of a small group of refugees fleeing at night for their lives. Such scenes are to be seen today in many countries such as southern Sudan and Ukraine, This flight of Jesus’ family wouldn’t make the news today, it is so commonplace. The first impression is that Herod is in command but Matthew reminds us that God is really in control:
“And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called my son.” Matthew 2:15
Matthew wants us to realise that the one God is really in control, whatever circumstances seem to be saying.
Egypt had great meaning to the Israelites. It was there that God fashioned Isaac’s family into a nation, his own people. It was there that he miraculously freed his people from captivity to take them to the Promised Land. It was out of Egypt that he called and trained his people to serve him forever.
Isaac and his twelve sons and their families had also gone down to Egypt in desperation, because of a famine - it was the place where a fresh start was fashioned. In the first century AD, God’s people were in trouble - they had failed to live as God wanted, they had not loved him with all their heart and with all their soul and with all their strength (Deuteronomy 6:5). Under David and his son Solomon the country had reached its zenith but they had gone downhill since. Like an adulterous wife, Israel had turned away from living for God. Yet he still loved them, they needed a new start and God is saying that he is repeating history and out of Egypt a new start was coming.
The Old Testament book of Hosea is quoted by Matthew with good reason. Hosea married an adulterous wife yet he is told to bring her back home. In a similar way God cannot forsake his adulterous people who have left him.
“How can I give you up, Ephraim? How can I hand you over, Israel? . . . My heart is changed within me; all my compassion is aroused.I will not carry out my fierce anger, nor will I devastate Ephraim again. For I am God, and not a man – the Holy One among you.” Hosea 11:8-11
It is in this context that Hosea wrote:
“When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son.” Hosea 11:1
In context this reminded God’s people that they were a young people when God called them out of Egypt but here this verse is given a different twist, ‘Out of Egypt God will call his Son, the Lord Jesus’. God’s people will have a new start when God will again call his people back to him.
Matthew is saying that now, hundreds of years later, what God did once through Israel in the old Testament, he has promised to do again through Jesus. This parallel is unmistakable. The period of separation is over, reconciliation is beginning, a fresh start has come with the appearance of Jesus.
The emotion of the scene is clear. From the desperate heartache of separation and sadness comes jubilation and hope. Just as Hosea is one of the most emotional books in the Old Testament so is the opportunity for us of having the relationship with God restored.
At first sight it seems that Herod is supreme but the reality is, as it always is, that God remains in control of everything. Similarly for us, a fresh start of a close relationship with God is now possible.
3. Bethlehem - The Slaughter of the Innocent - Judgment
A new start is on offer but the horror of the slaughter of boys under two years of age in Bethlehem reminds us of the horrors of this world. Herod was supreme who could order people’s death at whim. He was a tyrant. Herod had three of his own sons murdered for plotting against him. He also executed his wife, Mariamne. He had the young High Priest Aristobulus III drowned, fearing he was a threat to his power. Other accounts describe him as a brutal and ruthless king who ordered the deaths of many rivals and was involved in a plot to have all the principal Jewish men killed upon his death to ensure a grand public mourning. Fortunately this was not enacted. Again it would seem as if he was in charge of everything but then we read:
“Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled: “A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.” Matthew 2:17-18
Ramah was a place near Bethlehem that the Babylonians had used as a prisoner of war camp before deporting the Jews. It was also the place where Rachel, the wife of Abraham, had been buried. Jeremiah is imagining Rachel weeping over the plight of God’s people as God’s judgment falls on them.
Matthew is reminding his readers that God’s judgment is a definite prospect and no-one should trifle with this. He ii concerned that some people may be thinking,
“I don’t need a fresh start. Why not muddle on as I am?”
God’s warning is that there is a judgment to come for those who reject his offer. What Herod did is a foretaste of what life without God will be like. Jesus is clear that hell is real. Reject what Jesus taught and you have to explain away his remarkable life, his miracles, his death and resurrection, the many Old Testament prophecies, and the conviction of his disciples that led to the remarkable growth of Christ’s churches throughout the world against much opposition. Rejection of his rule is not rational. The alternatives on society are very worrying:
“"When men choose not to believe in God, they do not thereafter believe in nothing; they then become capable of believing in anything." - G.K. Chesterton
This story shows that a society is in decay when common sense and the rational becomes uncommon. and irrational. The same goes for individuals both in this world and when we face God in judgment. How many think:
“Push off God, I’m in charge.”
An all-seeing God knows all we do, say and think and unless we have a Saviour we will be in trouble when we come face to face with God, as Jesus says we all will. No amount of moralising education or social engineering, however helpful these may be, can solve our root problem, our sinful natures.
4. Nazareth - Rejection but Hope
Nazareth in Galilee was socially looked down on by the rest of Israel. Nathanuel, later called Bartholomew, who himself came from Cana in Galilee said:
“Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” John 1:46
Again it would appear that the Herods had won and God’s Messiah had been ostracised. But then we read:
“So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets, that he would be called a Nazarene.” Matthew 2:23
The Old Testament prophecies state that a great light would appear in Galilee:
“Nevertheless, there will be no more gloom for those who were in distress. In the past he humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the future he will honour Galilee of the nations, by the Way of the Sea, beyond the Jordan—The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned.” Isaiah 9:1-2
The most widely accepted theory about the Messiah being a Nazarene is that Matthew is alluding to Old Testament Messianic prophecies that use the Hebrew word ‘netzer’ meaning ‘branch’. The town name Nazareth sounds similar to ‘netzer’. Thus:
"A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch (netzer) will bear fruit". Isaiah 11:1
Other "Branch" prophecies that make this interpretation likely include:
“‘The days are coming,’ declares the Lord, ‘when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, a King who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land.” Jeremiah 23:5
“In those days and at that time I will make a righteous Branch sprout from David’s line; he will do what is just and right in the land.” Jeremiah 33:15
“Tell him this is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘Here is the man whose name is the Branch, and he will branch out from his place and build the temple of the Lord.” Zechariah 6:12
Whether this is true or not, Matthew clearly wants everyone to understand that Jesus really is God’s Messiah who will overcome rejection, having had to grow up in Nazareth, to rule the world for eternity:
“He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem”. Isaiah 53:3
Again it would appear that God is not in control, but the world’s rulers are, but in the end God’s Son rules and he commands everyone to bend their knees before him. By going to the cross, to final degradation, Jesus won the greatest victory possible. The authorities thought they had won but Jesus overcame even death to bring an eternal victory to all his people.
God said . . .
Matthew wants us all to take note of one other lesson. When God spoke to Joseph we read:
“. . . take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.” So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt . . .” Matthew 2:13-14
“. . . go to the land of Israel, for those who were trying to take the child’s life are dead.” So he got up, took the child and his mother and went . . .” Matthew 2:20-21
The lesson is obvious. The God speaks his people obey. Obedience to the Word of God is evidence that we are Christians.
Recently a man told me that he checks everything he says by praying about it and listening to what God says to him. there is a great danger in this. it is how many sects and religious groups start. The only sure way of checking how we think is by comparing it with the thrust of Scripture. this does not mean finding a proof verse to support your view! This is why God has given us the Scriptures and why church leaders must prioritise teaching people how to think biblically:
“I give you this charge: Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine.” 2 Timothy 4:1-3
BVP
