Bible Study - Looking Forward (5) - Looking Forward in Worship - Matthew 2:1-11, 16-18 - December 29, 2024

 

Bible Study – Looking Forward (5) – Looking Forward in Worship – December 29, 2024

JESUS is LORD and HE deserves our worship.

Our focus scripture is Matthew 2:1-11, 16-18.

What do you think when you consider JESUS? Was HE an imposter?

Or the true Son of GOD?

Let’s read Matthew 2:1-2:

Wise Men Visit the King

2 After Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of King Herod, wise men from the east arrived in Jerusalem, ² saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star at its rising and have come to worship him.”^[a]

Who were these wise men, astrologers, or astronomers? They were both and their legacy goes back to Daniel. We think of three wise men because of the three gifts but there could have been more.

What I write next in no way endorses today’s meaning of astrology.

We read in Genesis 1:14 - And God said, "Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years."

The wise men in Matthew 2 came from the East of Jerusalem, which referred to Persia and Arabia. God caught the attention of these astrologers with a special star signifying both the birth of the King of the Jews and His specific location in Bethlehem. The significance of this is found in the following scripture.

Psalm 72:10-11

10 The kings of Tarshish [Persia] and of the isles shall bring presents: the kings of Sheba [Southwest Arabia] and Seba shall offer gifts. 11 Yea, all kings shall fall down before him: all nations shall serve him.

Let’s read Matthew 2:3-6:

³ When King Herod heard this, he was deeply disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. ⁴ So he assembled all the chief priests and scribes of the people and asked them where the Messiah would be born.

⁵ “In Bethlehem of Judea,” they told him, “Because this is what was written by the prophet:

⁶ And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah:
Because out of you will come a ruler
who will shepherd my people Israel.”^[b]

The Flight into Egypt

¹³ After they were gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, “Get up! Take the child and his mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you. For Herod is about to search for the child to kill him.” ¹⁴ So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night, and escaped to Egypt. ¹⁵ He stayed there until Herod’s death, so that what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet might be fulfilled: Out of Egypt I called my Son.^[e]

 

Let’s read Matthew 2:7-8, 16-18:

⁷ Then Herod secretly summoned the wise men and asked them the exact time the star appeared. ⁸ He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. When you find him, report back to me so that I too can go and worship him.”^[c]

The Massacre of the Innocents

¹⁶ Then Herod, when he realized that he had been outwitted by the wise men, flew into a rage. He gave orders to massacre all the boys in and around Bethlehem who were two years old and under; in keeping with the time, he had learned from the wise men. ¹⁷ Then what was spoken through Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled:

¹⁸ A voice was heard in Ramah,

weeping,^[f] and great mourning,
Rachel weeping for her children;
and she refused to be consoled,
because they are no more.^[g]

Let’s read Matthew 2:9-12:

⁹ After hearing the king, they went on their way. And there it was—the star they had seen at its rising. It led them until it came and stopped above the place where the child was. ¹⁰ When they saw the star, they were overwhelmed with joy. ¹¹ Entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and falling to their knees, they worshiped him.^[d] Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. ¹² And being warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their own country by another route.

Notice by this time in verse 11, Mary, Joseph and JESUS had relocated to a house in Bethlehem.

Some Bible scholars believe that JESUS was 2 years old because of the King’s orders in verse 16.

This is an interesting read regarding Daniel.

Daniel’s Influence on the Magi 

Scriptures Available through Daniel to the Wise Men (Notice the caveats of reasonable speculations. This is not written as an absolute but to give us something to pray about and ponder and see the Hand of GOD at work.)

First let’s consider Daniel and his GOD given gifts, which could only come from GOD as we read in Daniel 5:1,5-12:

5:1: King Belshazzar held a great feast for a thousand of his nobles and drank wine in their presence.

The Handwriting on the Wall

^5:5: At that moment, the fingers of a man’s hand appeared and began writing on the plaster of the king’s palace wall next to the lampstand. As the king watched the hand^[d] that was writing, ⁶ his face turned pale,^[e] and his thoughts so terrified him that he soiled himself^[f] and his knees knocked together. ⁷ The king shouted to bring in the mediums, Chaldeans, and diviners. He said to these wise men of Babylon, “Whoever reads this inscription and gives me its interpretation will be clothed in purple, have a gold chain around his neck, and have the third highest position in the kingdom.” ⁸ So all the king’s wise men came in, but none could read the inscription or make its interpretation known to him. ⁹ Then King Belshazzar became even more terrified, his face turned pale,^[g] and his nobles were bewildered.

¹⁰ Because of the outcry of the king and his nobles, the queen^[h] came to the banquet hall. “May the king live forever,” she said. “Don’t let your thoughts terrify you or your face be pale.^[i] 11 There is a man in your kingdom who has a spirit of the holy gods in him. In the days of your predecessor, he was found to have insight, intelligence, and wisdom like the wisdom of the gods. Your predecessor, King Nebuchadnezzar, appointed him chief of the magicians, mediums, Chaldeans, and diviners. Your own predecessor, the king, ¹² did this because Daniel, the one the king named Belteshazzar, was found to have an extraordinary spirit, knowledge and intelligence, and the ability to interpret dreams, explain riddles, and solve problems.^[j] Therefore, summon Daniel, and he will give the interpretation.”

GOD Is all knowing and Daniel was in right relationship with GOD and revealed truth. The same is true today when we are in right relationship with GOD through faith in JESUS. GOD equips those HE chooses with certain gifts to minister.

A convincing case can be made that the Magi were students of the Hebrew Scriptures. The knowledge of a future King of the Jews who was to be the Redeemer might have first come to the Magi “in the east” through the Scriptures available to them through Daniel and the other Hebrews who took their holy writings – the Old Testament up to that point (Daniel 9:2a) – with them to Babylon. Daniel was taken captive by the King of the Babylonians, Nebuchadnezzar, in his first attack on Jerusalem in 606-605 BC. At that time, he took many of the brightest young Jewish men to Babylon to be trained for service in the Babylonian court.

Because of Daniel’s God-given ability to interpret dreams and visions, he was appointed by Nebuchadnezzar (Daniel 4:9) and later by his son, Belshazzar, to be “chief of the magicians [master of the ‘Magi’], enchanters, astrologers, and diviners” (Daniel 5:11 NIV). Later, Daniel also served in the courts of the Medes (King Darius; Daniel 9:1) and the Persians (King Cyrus; Daniel 10:1). Daniel had a remarkable term of service in these eastern courts, service that was clearly orchestrated by God.

Daniel would likely have introduced the Magi to the one true God and shared with them the Scriptures which told of Him to whom Daniel prayed daily. After all, Daniel shared with the Kings of Babylon, Media, and Persia that his ability to interpret dreams and visions came from God. Surely, he would also have shared these things with the Magi.

In addition, Daniel might very well have shared the prophecy given in the Book of Numbers, the fourth oracle of Balaam, foretelling the coming of a Promised One: “A star will come out of Jacob; a scepter will rise out of Israel” (Numbers 24:17 NIV). Although this prophecy does not provide a time frame, it would have offered the invaluable insight that this “star” would come out of Judah in Israel at some future date.

Apparently, Daniel also entrusted the Messianic vision he received to this group of Magi. He would have told them – as recorded in Daniel 9:21-22 – about his visit from the angel Gabriel and the message and vision of the 70 Weeks (“week” here being a seven-year period) prophecy (Daniel 9:24-27). Contained within this prophecy was the knowledge that after 69 Weeks (69 x 7 = 483 years) “the Anointed One [the Redeemer, Jesus] will be cut off [crucified], but not for himself” (Daniel 9:26 NIV). The Magi would have therefore learned from Daniel the precise time period for this Jewish Messiah, prophesied in the Scriptures. It is not hard to imagine that Daniel later entrusted the Magi to welcome the Redeemer when He was born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2).

Over the next 500 years, these important prophecies would have been passed down among the Magi, from generation to generation. When the Magi at the time of the birth of Jesus saw what were to them unmistakable cosmic signs, their observations of the heavens and their writings would have alerted them to the birth of this prophesied Jewish Messiah. When they saw the sign, nothing could hold them back from travelling to see this King of the Jews, with their royal gifts fit for a King. And so, it was.

(Even today we anticipate the second coming of JESUS, and we eagerly look forward to HIS coming.)

And so, we worship this newborn king, JESUS, as our Savior and our ultimate goal is to make HIM not only King but also, the LORD of our lives.

Folks, this is where the rubber meets the road. Allow JESUS to rule in your life.

Many people have good intentions to go all out for JESUS but hold back for a variety of reasons. I urge you to trust GOD and through faith in JESUS, pray something like this; “Dear JESUS, I do want to be Spirit-born and to obediently serve YOU. I ask YOU to forgive me for my sins and come into my heart as my Savior. I also ask YOU to lead and guide me through the indwelling HOLY SPIRIT. I need for YOU to be to be my strength, guide, and teacher. Amen.”

The timing of GOD is exact, and the second coming of JESUS will be exact.

Blessings!!!