seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Matthew 2:1 After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi[a] from the east came to Jerusalem 2 and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”
3 When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. 4 When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born. 5 “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written:
6 “‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for out of you will come a ruler
who will shepherd my people Israel.’[b]”
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for out of you will come a ruler
who will shepherd my people Israel.’[b]”
7 Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. 8 He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.”
9 After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. 11 On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. 12 And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.
13 When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “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.”
14 So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, 15 where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called my son.”[c]
16 When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi. 17 Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled:
18 “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.”[d]
weeping and great mourning,
Rachel weeping for her children
and refusing to be comforted,
because they are no more.”[d]
19 After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt 20 and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who were trying to take the child’s life are dead.”
21 So he got up, took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. 22 But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning in Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Having been warned in a dream, he withdrew to the district of Galilee, 23 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.
a. Matthew 2:1 Traditionally wise men
b. Matthew 2:6 Micah 5:2,4
c. Matthew 2:15 Hosea 11:1
d. Matthew 2:18 Jer. 31:15
I pulled this from bible-studys.org.
“Beth-lehem of Judea” was also called Ephrath. The town is five miles south of Jerusalem. Its name in Hebrew means “House of Bread.” This Judean city was the birthplace of King David. It was the original city of Joseph’s ancestors. According to Luke 2:1-7, Joseph and Mary traveled there from Nazareth and Jesus was born in a stable after they arrived.
“Wise men” were originally the priestly caste among the Persians and Babylonians. These Magi from the East were experts in the study of the stars. Tradition claims that there were three royal visitors who were also kings. However, there is no real historical evidence to verify this.
“Born King of the Jews:” The wise men naturally come to Jerusalem, the royal capital of Israel, seeking one whom they thought was to be born a king, on the basis of their calculations of the stars.
“His star” could not have been merely a natural phenomenon, since it led the wise men to Jerusalem and later to Bethlehem. It almost certainly was a divine manifestation used by God to indicate the fact and place of the Messiah’s birth.
“Herod”, known in history as Herod the Great, because of his loyalty to Rome, was given authority over Palestine and the title of king (37 to 4 B.C.). To win the favor of both Romans and Jews he carried out lavish building projects, including the cities of Caesarea and Samaria, and the new temple at Jerusalem. Herod had 10 wives and the deserved reputation of being a cruel, unscrupulous despot.
Because of hatred and ambitions for power among families, and because of Herod’s consuming suspicion that someone might usurp his throne, he even executed one of his wives and his three oldest sons. Thus, the act of murdering all of the young male children in the region of Bethlehem, in an effort to eliminate the One whom the Magi had called King of the Jews, fits Herod’s character. When Herod died, Rome divided his kingdom among three sons: Archelaus, Antipas “the tetrarch,” and Philip (Luke 3:1).
“The death of Herod” occurred in 4 B.C. Our present calendar is off in its calculation by about six years. This would place the birth of Christ at 6 or 5 B.C. Herod’s death is recorded in detail by Josephus. Josephus calls him “a man of great barbarity towards all men.”
“When Herod was dead” he was succeeded by his son Archelaus, the son of his Samaritan wife, Malthace. Archelaus was as brutal as his father. Joseph, again warned in a dream, returned to Nazareth, avoiding any further residence in Judea. The phrase “He shall be called a Nazarene” is a reference to Christ’s coming from the city of Nazareth. It should not be taken to mean that He was a Nazarite (see Num. 6).
This is an outtake from bibletrack.org.Herod was in a panic. He brings in the experts on such matters - the scribes and chief priests. In verse 6 they point him to Micah 5:2 and proclaim, it's Bethlehem! But wait! There's more! Micah, in that very same verse, proclaims that the child (Jesus) is to become the governor of the land. Herod must have thought, "Hey! That's my job!" Herod takes on a battle against God himself after that knowledge. In the face of overwhelming evidence from the magi and then the local temple experts that the Messiah had been born, he makes his lame attempt to put a stop to it by murdering all the babies under the age of two. We deduct from this that the wise men probably did not appear immediately after the birth of Christ. But go ahead and keep them in your Christmas manger scene; it's a nice look. Perhaps they did, and it took Herod two years to realize he had been double crossed by them (probably not). However, it does say that when they found "the young child," they entered into the "house" where he was. God told Joseph to head for Egypt for safety from Herod after that event, and they did. They did not return to Israel until Herod's death in verse 22. Joseph was still leery of moving back to Bethlehem so close to Jerusalem where Herod's boy was on the throne, so he moved about 75 miles north of Jerusalem to Nazareth, Mary and Joseph's hometown.
OK.... everyone knows the story of the three "kings". I'm not going to go into all the fun changes humans have made to make this story easier for the children to digest. Joseph kept having dreams that changed their future. First.... he was to keep his wedding plans. Mary had not been with another man.... if he called off the wedding.... they would have known she was pregnant out of wedlock and they would have murdered her. Next... he had a dream to pick up and run to Egypt. If he hadn't believed the dream.... Herod's men would have caught the baby up in the mass murder. Finally.... he had a dream to go to Nazareth rather than Bethlehem. Herod's men didn't have a clue which baby was the one Herod wanted murdered.... so they just murdered every baby and toddler that might even begin to fit the general description. Joseph believed the baby would never be safe growing up so close to the people who wanted him dead. Now.... there's discussion about Nazarene v Nazarite. A Nazarite was someone who followed a very strict set of rules. They didn't cut their beards... they didn't drink wine. But.... a Nazarene was someone who lived in Nazareth. Joseph and his family would be known as Nazarene.
There is also some talk about the weeping of Rachel over the babies. Rachel was Jacob's wife. She was the mother of Joseph and Benjamin..... they were the great great great whatever relatives of Joseph and the baby. Joseph was reported to be murdered...... when his step brothers had had enough... they took his cloak [the one of many colors] and drenched it in blood.... they sold Joseph into slavery and then told Jacob and Rachel that Joseph was dead. Not too many years later..... the same boys told Jacob and Rachel that they had to go rescue Benjamin.... the only son they had left. Rachel had a horrible time getting pregnant and when she finally did..... her boys had been everything to her.... now wonder she cried over her children.
Matthew was a tax collector..... he knew the governmental side of things. His witness will be about the political side.
As I post this.... we are in a pandemic. Humans are posting really stupid stuff on line.... where other humans all over the world can see it. Stuff that is posted by one stupid human can be translated and read by another stupid human anywhere in the world. Today, for instance, someone posted "how many will post God is still in charge?". It's a good thing Joseph knew that God was still in charge..... because today stupid humans would have pinpointed the location of the baby to save their own.
