Besides, He was Jehovah. The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up." (Antipas received Galilee and Perea, which runs along the Jordan River Such was the kingdom of heaven. The verse is quoted as an application. They saw the star; they set forth to seek the Messiah's kingdom. their home? (Matthew 3:1-17) The Spirit of God carries us over a long interval, and the voice of John is heard proclaiming, "Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." "Take heed [He says] that you do not your righteousness before men." Beneath the high altar of the church is the eave, and when the pilgrim descends into it he finds a little cavern about fourteen yards tong and four yards wide, lit by silver lamps. Evidently, therefore, the omission was not careless or ignorant, but intentional. Under the cruelty of the tyrant almost every family was a family of tears, and well might there be lamentation, and weeping, and great mourning. Then Herod secretly summoned the wise men, and carefully questioned them about the time when the star appeared. J. S. Blackie, the famous Edinburgh professor, once said in public, "I desire to thank God for the good stock-in-trade, so to speak, which I inherited from my parents for the business of life." or that the Spirit of God had not His own blessed reasons for giving prominency to both facts? The substantial truth is given to us without noticing the immediate occasion in particular facts, appeals, etc. Read full chapter. It can be seen at once that in its original form this saying of Hosea had nothing to do with Jesus, and nothing to do with the flight to Egypt It was nothing more than a simple statement of now God had delivered the nation of Israel from slavery and from bondage in the land of Egypt. He is still only a boy and has come to the door to stretch his limbs which had grown cramped over the bench. Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet, saying: Again Matthew brings the Jewish reader to a familiar Old Testament passage (Jeremiah 31:15). Henry St. John Thackeray's translation of Josephus here states it thus: "The promoters of the mourning for the doctors stood in the body of the temple, procuring recruits for their faction". "In the original context, Jeremiah is speaking of an event soon to come as the Babylonian Captivity begins. That quarter of the land was regarded as the scene of darkness; yet was it just there that God suddenly caused light to arise. No sooner was Jesus born than we see men grouping themselves into the three groups in which men are always to be found in regard to Jesus Christ. [9] Caesar gave Archelaus the title of ethnarch and divided the kingdom. From basileus; to rule. The diseases and deaths of little children are proofs of original sin. It is supremely fitting that every man should approach the infant Jesus upon his knees. He was baptized in Jordan an act most inexplicable for those who then or now might hold to His glory without entering into His heart of grace. "Look," he said, "at the spider's web there. Fully is it admitted that there is nothing like grace to meet duty; and doing one's duty is a good thing for a Christian. It is not difficult to see how that belief arose. Rama is commonly supposed to be the same as the Arimarthea of the New Testament the place where Joseph lived who begged the body of Jesus. His mother was Malthace. To enumerate the most obvious of these, Herod shows himself to be spiritually blind (Matthew 2:3), fearful (Matthew 2:3), conspiratorial (Matthew 2:7), guileful and mendacious (Matthew 2:8), murderous (Matthew 2:13; Matthew 2:16), wrathful (Matthew 2:16; cf. So he had divided his kingdom into three, and in his will he had left a part to each of three of his sons. Matthew 2:12 And being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way. Guard it, for it is your life. Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Genitive Masculine 3rd Person Singular. He might be styled, as indeed He was, "the son of David, the son of Abraham;" but He was, He is, He could not but be, Jehovah-Emmanuel. "The book," he says, "of the generation of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham." Along the path came a detachment of Herod's soldiers, seeking for children to kill to carry out Herod's bloodthirsty order. Archelaus prepared to set out for Rome for this purpose immediately after the period of mourning for his father. Old Dominion frontman Matthew Ramsey is still on the mend after a painful ATV accident in March. What was happening in those silent years? The change of this will in favor of Archelaus is given as Herod's true choice and, it is argued, occurred with Herod being in his right mind since he left the final decision to Caesar. When Joseph and Mary were on their way to Egypt, they were waylaid by robbers. The wise men from the east enquire after Jesus; They are directed by a star to Bethlehem, worship him, and offer their presents. Here, at the very starting-point, the Holy Ghost points out the divine and eternal glory of Him who deigns to come as the Messiah. Here was a representation of this world we live in. God, therefore, takes particular pains, in this Jewish gospel, to give all importance to His being strictly, in the eye of the law, the son of Joseph; and so, according to the flesh, inheriting the rights of the regal branch; yet here He takes particular care to prove that He was not, in the reality of His birth as man, Joseph's son. She died in childbirth at the birth of Benjamin. Joseph's Faith overcame his fears Matthew 2:22 KJV [22] But when he heard that Archelaus did reign in Judaea in the room of his father Herod, he was afraid to go thither: notwithstanding, being warned of God in a dream, he turned aside into the parts of Galilee: He had to go to Rome to get Caesar's blessing, but before he could leave this happened: At this time also it was that some of the Jews got together out of a desire of innovation. She was told: "They have no bread." 22 But when he heard that Archelaus did reign in Judaea in the room of his father Herod, he was afraid to go thither: notwithstanding, being warned of God in a dream, he turned aside into the parts of Galilee: Read full chapter. Archelaus dressed in white and ascended a golden throne and appeared to be kind to the populace in Jerusalem in order to appease their desires for lower taxes and an end to the (political) imprisonment of Herod's enemies. Question Who was Herod the Great? So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets, that he would . I doubt not that God was pleased in His goodness to give a seal to that prophecy, after a literal sort, not to speak of its true symbolic force. The lamentations of a Hindoo mother for her child are loud and piercing; and it is almost impossible to conceive of a scene more truly heart-rending than that of a whole town of such mothers wailing over their massacred children. All rights reserved worldwide. The people, of course, around Bethlehem revere the place of her burial, her tomb there. Blessed be God, there is no occasion of grief in this world, no, not that which is supplied by sin itself, that will justify us in refusing to be comforted! They have seen in each gift something which specially matched some characteristic of Jesus and his work. Herod Archelaus (Ancient Greek: , Hrids Archelaos; 23BC c.AD 18) was the ethnarch[1][2] of Samaria, Judea, and Idumea, including the cities Caesarea and Jaffa, for nine years[3] (c.4 BC to AD 6). The change of the will appears as one of Herod's last acts and it is attested from Jericho by one "Ptolemy", keeper of Herod's Seal. Not only does God deign to meet the Jew with these proofs from prophecy, miracle, life, and doctrine, but He begins with what a Jew would and must demand the question of genealogy. Matthew knew that almost the only way to convince the Jews that Jesus was the promised Anointed One of God was to prove that he was the fulfilment of Old Testament prophecy. In Rome he was opposed by Antipas and by many of the Jews, who feared his cruelty, based on the murder of 3000; but in 4 BC Augustus allotted to him the greater part of the kingdom (Samaria, Judea, and Idumea) with the title of ethnarch (a ruler of an ethnic group). Matthew implies that Jesus' parents Joseph and Mary were afraid to go to the territories ruled by Archelaus, and therefore settled in Galilee (Matthew 2.22). And God has deemed it meet to recount even this to us, so that we may know and enter into His own delight in His rich grace as He speaks of the ancestors of the Messiah. But here the great thing is the relationship of Joseph to the Messiah, and hence he is the one to whom the angel appears. It is an interesting fact that in after days the foes of Christianity and the enemies of Jesus used the stay in Egypt as a peg to attach their slanders to him. Matthews point is that Herod brings great pain and anguish on the village of Bethlehem. The wise men, I am sorry, did not come to the manger, but actually arrived later on, perhaps a year or as much as two years later. That we will never know for certain. 4), his kingdom was divided between his three sons, Herod Antipas, Archelaus and Philip. One writer estimated that this purge would have affected only about 20 children. From archo and Laodikeus; people-ruling; Archelaus, a Jewish king. Herod was half Jew and half Idumaean. I believe, if the births of the male children in the weekly bills were computed, there would not be found so many under two years old, in one of the most populous cities in the world, that was not near a fortieth part of it. From the start, Herod proved to be an extraordinary political survivor. (iii) There was the reaction of the wise men, the reaction of adoring worship, the desire to lay at the feet of Jesus Christ the noblest gifts which they could bring. They didn't finish the prophecy. Rome would consolidate its power later. Where, in the mind of the Spirit of God, such a continual, conspicuous point of quoting and applying Scripture in all places and seasons to the Lord Jesus? Satan was the source of the thought couched in Peter's words. Archelaus then left to feast with his friends. Archelaus sent heralds around the city announcing the cancellation of Passover. From an obsolete but more primary form of meiromai; a division or share. Father, (Heavenly) Father, ancestor, elder, senior. ; in 40 B.C. And of course with that in the Planetarium there, they can adjust the lights in the ceiling to represent the skies in any period of history. But God's thoughts are not our thoughts; neither are our ways His ways. You remember she called his name Benoni, because of the grief. Herod summoned the chief priests and the scribes. He came to give for men his life and his death. It was in Bethlehem that Jesus was born. But the death of Herod did not solve the problem. Those who came from Archelaus were stoned, with many killed. The fact that a thing is not mentioned, even in the places where one might expect it to be mentioned, is no proof at all that it did not happen. It was so in the days of the Roman Emperor, Hadrian, for Hadrian, in a deliberate attempt to desecrate the place, erected a shrine to the heathen god Adonis above it. To the heirs of the kingdom the Lord is unfolding the principles of that kingdom most blessed and rich instruction, but instruction in righteousness. gain access to 50+ premium resources to enhance your study of Scripture. But, then, it is not simply the anointed of Jehovah, but One who proves Himself, and is declared of God, to be Jehovah-Messiah No such testimony appears elsewhere. So the wise men found their way to Bethlehem. Matthew mentions Herod Antipas In Rama was there a voice heard, lamentation, and weeping, and great mourning, Ramah is a city in the territory of Benjamin about six miles north of Jerusalem and on the border of Israel and Judah. From phobos; to frighten, i.e. Some observe another design of Providence in the murder of the infants. They that would not rejoice for the birth of the Son of God, are justly made to weep for the death of their own sons; for they only wondered at the tidings the shepherds brought them, but did not welcome them. [Note: See Edersheim, 1:127. would follow if Archelaus, then just 18 years old, proved himself an able ruler. Notice how Matthew over and over is showing that these aspects of the life of Christ were in reality a fulfillment of prophecy. Antipas. Wherever there was the least action of the Holy Spirit of God in grace in the hearts of Israel, He joined Himself. There was a great cry in Egypt when the first-born were slain, and so there was here when the youngest was slain; for whom we naturally have a particular tenderness. The quoting of this prophecy might serve to obviate an objection which some would make against Christ, upon this sad providence. At the end of the chapter is a general summary of the Messiah's ministry, and of its effects, given in these words: "And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people. Both are true, but with distinct design. An curved arrow pointing right. The New Testament does not say that there were three, but the idea that there were three no doubt arose from the threefold gift which they brought. And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph ( Matthew 2:13 ). It seems that after the ceremonies in Jerusalem, Joseph and Mary returned with Jesus to Bethlehem. Seneca tells us that in Parthia it was the custom that no one could ever approach the king without a gift. bear as a title. They learnt the scriptures as to it. Neuter of hostis as conjunction; demonstrative, that; causative, because. [8] Josephus does not tell us who these "promoters of the mourning", who recruit from within a body inside the Temple, could have been. But yet our Saviour was so perfect in it, that He never uttered the word "Satan" until the last daring, shameless effort to tempt Him to render to the evil one the very worship of God Himself Not till then does our Lord say, "Get thee hence, Satan.". And, when you have found him, send news to me, that I, too, may come and worship him." They believed that they could foretell the future from the stars, and they believed that a man's destiny was settled by the star under which he was born. (Matthew 6:1-34) As to this, we know from Luke 11:1-54 there was a request preferred by the disciples which led to it. Some think that he had a young child at nurse in Bethlehem; others think that, through mistake, two events are confounded--the murder of the infants, and the murder of his son Antipater. Thus even from the very first our Lord Jesus, as a babe, tastes the hate of the world what it is to be thoroughly humbled, even as a child. And it was so. Doubtless there may have been a special reason for the omission; but whatever may be our judgment of the true solution of the difficulty, it is evident that a priest who was giving his own genealogy would not put it forward in a defective form. I stood next to a rock that is along the Western Wall in Jerusalem that Herod had built as a retaining wall, to build up the temple mount to place the temple on top. 2. To prove that Jesus was the Christ, Matthew had to show that Jesus was born where the Old Testament said Messiah would be born. There is the name of Rachab, a Gentile, and a Gentile bringing no honourable reputation along with her. Accordingly, his own life was the witness of what he felt morally of Israel's then state. Supposing you are describing a certain character; you put together striking traits from the whole course of his life; you do not restrain yourself to the bare dates at which they occurred. The prophet's poignant question can still be asked: "Is it nothing to you, all you who pass by?" He built another fortress similar to the Herodian that has not yet really been excavated, the Alexandrian. The picture of the stable and the manger as the birthplace of Jesus is a picture indelibly etched in our minds; but it may well be that that picture is not altogether correct. So He was. Of uncertain affinity; there; by extension, thither. It is probable that the blessed Jesus was at this time not a year old; yet Herod took in all the infants under two years old, that he might be sure not to miss of his prey. This is our righteousness, the especial point of which is, that it should be not a matter of ostentation, but before our Father who sees in secret. Etc. The answer I conceive to be this, that the Spirit in Matthew loves to present Christ as the One like unto Moses, whom they were to hear. There are two things to be said. [Note: Robert H. Gundry, The Use of the Old Testament in St. Matthews Gospel, with Special Reference to the Messianic Hope, p. 210; R. V. G. Tasker, The Gospel According to St. Matthew: An Introduction and Commentary, pp. That prediction was accomplished in Jeremiah's time, when Nebuzaradan, after he had destroyed Jerusalem, brought all his prisoners to Ramah (Jeremiah 40:1), and there disposed of them as he pleased, for the sword, or for captivity. By the time that they had arrived, Joseph and Mary had moved out of the manger and had moved into a house in Bethlehem. Archelaus was the older brother of Herod Antipas, and both were sons born to But at their best the Magi were good and holy men, who sought for truth. For all things were out of course; and He must prove by His whole life, as we shall find by-and-by He did, what the condition of His people was. Mary and Joseph also learnt of Herods planned treachery, and escaped with the child to the safety of Egypt (Matthew 2:13-15). The last words of this passage introduce us to a custom which is characteristic of Matthew. Macrobius, a heathen writer, tells us, that when Augustus Csar heard that Herod, among the children he order to be slain under two years old, slew his own son, he passed this jest upon him, That it was better to be Herod's swine than his son. Halley's comet was visible shooting brilliantly across the skies. Jamie was the "wise wean, the little box of brains," and his family knew it. The letter F. An envelope. Hence we read as the very first "Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy. It is well, however, to remark, that the departure from such an order is precisely what indicates the consummate hand of God, and for a simple reason. Still later legend assigned to each a personal description, and distinguished the gift which each of them gave to Jesus. By Matthew Goldstein. A casual reader might think that Herod had tremendous longevity as a ruler. Jeremiah was picturing the people of Jerusalem being led away in exile. What was to their purpose, they recorded; what was not, they left to others. Accordingly, therefore, while there is the doctrine of righteousness, there is the introduction of what is above it and mightier than it, with the corresponding blessedness of being persecuted for Christ's sake. hunted down and killed the members of that delegation, as well as their It was in Bethlehem, David's city, that the Jews expected great David's greater Son to be born; it was there that they expected God's Anointed One to come into the world. It was indeed the blessing that he had got from that Babe which enabled him to bless both God and His parents; but he blesses not the Babe even when he blesses the parents. The Magi found Jesus and worshipped him, but when they learnt that Herod planned to kill him, they returned home without first reporting to Herod (Matthew 2:9-12). Meanwhile, in a country to the east, men known as Magi (people who study the stars) had worked out that a new king was born in Judea and they came to Jerusalem looking for him (Matthew 2:1-2). They wish to do what they like, and Christ will not let them do what they like; and so they would kill him. Bezae,) Vulgate, and Saxon, several of the fathers, and above all Jeremiah, Jeremiah 31:15, from which it is quoted. In the early days eastern tradition said that there were twelve of them. It is one of the salient features of Christianity. The whole incident is so typical of Herod that we need not doubt that Matthew is passing the truth down to us. He quotes Jeremiah 31:15, "Thus says the Lord: a voice is heard in Ramah, lamentation and bitter weeping; Rachel is weeping for her children; she refuses to be comforted for her children, because they are not.". Since he dealt primarily with the second of these events in his ministry, he probably did so here too. If then there suddenly appeared some brilliant star, if the unvarying order of the heavens was broken by some special phenomenon, it did look as if God was breaking into his own order, and announcing some special thing. (verses Matthew 7:1-4.) "Rise," he said, "and take the little child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and stay there until I tell you; for Herod is about to search for the little child, in order to kill him." (Matthew 5:1-48) Thus, in the former of these, a word detects, as it were, the thirst of blood, as corruption lies in a look or desire. The great fact is that, if Jesus had failed in the smaller duties, the mighty task of being the Saviour of the world could never have been given to him to do. A primary particle; opposite, i.e. They consisted of ex-high priests. In his eagerness he is finding a prophecy where no prophecy is. Ramsey -- alongside bandmates Geoff Sprung . Nicholaus of Damascus had been Herod's confidant for years. All is fish that comes to his net. The ridge had a summit at each end, and a hollow like a saddle between them. There, according to prophecy, light was to spring up; and how brightly was it now accomplished? Our ways lie through a vale of tears. Herod also appears in the Christian Gospel of Matthew as the ruler of Judea who orders the Massacre of the Innocents at the . If you were only chronicling the events of a year, you keep to the order in which they happened; but whenever you rise to the higher task of bringing out moral features, you may be frequently obliged to abandon the consecutive order of events as they occurred. However, Herod is the family name of a ruling dynasty in Palestine. Jesus worked in Nazareth for all the silent years in order that he might know what our life was like, and that, understanding, he might be able to help. We must always meet him on terms of complete submission. They had before known Jesus, and, I apprehend, savingly. . In chapter 1 the emphasis is more on how Jesus identity fulfilled prophecy, but in chapter 2 it is more on how Jesus geographical connections fulfilled prophecy. Compare the notes at Isaiah 10:29. Passover. (i) Gold is the gift for a king. Nothing would have been more simple and natural, had not that Babe differed from all others, had He not been what He was, and had Simeon not known who He was. ), son of Herod by his Samaritan wife Malthace. Caesar Augustus that Ruth, too, appears Ruth, of all these women most sweet and blameless, no doubt, by the working of the divine grace in her, but still a daughter of Moab, whom the Lord forbade to enter His congregation to the tenth generation for ever. The character of Archelaus was as cruel and treacherous as that of his father, and within a few months after his accession, he sent in his horsemen to disperse a multitude, and slew not less than 3,000 men. This is the literal meaning of Jeremiah 31:15. And because he had been warned in a dream, he departed for the region of Galilee. Now the name Mesori means the birth of a prince, and to those ancient astrologers such a star would undoubtedly mean the birth of some great king. Free Reading Plans and Devotionals related to Matthew 2:22. Otherwise, everything else is different." These are both taken up here: "Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. He saw in Him the salvation of God; and so, though he could rejoice in God, and bless God, though he could in another sense bless the parents, he never presumes so to bless the Babe. They quoted the text in Micah 5:2 to him. When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all of Jerusalem with him ( Matthew 2:3 ). Once again the cavalcade of the caravans and their silks and spices would be continually on it, and on it also the Roman legions clanked out to the frontiers. 22 Matthew 2:22 "But when he heard that Archelaus did reign in Judaea in the room of his father Herod, he was afraid to go thither: notwithstanding, being warned of God in a dream, he turned aside into the parts of Galilee:" King James Version (KJV) < Previous Verse Next Verse> View Chapter Matthew 2:22 Context Joseph also was divinely warned (Matthew 2:22). Philip's reign would last for 37 years, until his death . Rama was about 6 miles northwest of Jerusalem, near Bethel, and was some 10 or 12 miles from Bethlehem. Matthew 2 ~ When he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there, and being warned in a dream he withdrew to the district of Galilee Here was one of the worst men in the world, committing one of the most awful crimes, and yet there is not a single mark of exclamation; there is not a single reference to any other part of his conduct; there is nothing that could lead to the knowledge that his character in other respects was not upright. To me, I confess, it seems impossible for a simple mind to resist the conclusion. He was learning what it was like to have to earn a living, to save to buy food and clothes, and maybe sometimes a little pleasure; to meet the dissatisfied and the critical customer, and the customer who would not pay his debts. And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said, Go and search diligently for the young child; and when you have found him, bring me word again, that I may come and worship him also ( Matthew 2:8 ). [Note: Fruchtenbaum, p. 844. It might be the feeblest recognition of God and man; it might be but a remnant of Israelites; but, at least, they owned the truth about themselves; and Jesus was with them in owning the ruin fully, and felt it all. But over Bethlehem the star was shining. 22 But when he heard that Archelaus was ruling over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. It might be supposed, that no salvation could be expected from him, on whose account, as soon as he was born, infants were murdered; nay more, that it was an unfavorable and disastrous omen, that the birth of Christ kindled a stronger flame of cruelty than usually burns amidst the most inveterate wars. It was one of the greatest caravan routes in the world. And this, the third, is a general reference in which the prophets original words contained no predictive element but are used here for illustrative purposes (McGarvey 30). "But as for these enemies of mine," [said the nobleman,] "who did not want me to reign over them, bring them here and slaughter them before me." Herod The Great Herod the Great (73 B.C. Justin Martyr, one of the greatest of the early fathers, who lived about A.D. 150, and who came from the district near Bethlehem, tells us that Jesus was born in a cave near the village of Bethlehem (Justin Martyr: Dialogue with Trypho, 78, 304); and it may well be that Justin's information is correct. To one who knew the facts in a human way, nothing would he more natural than to put them down just as they occurred. There is no wanton and malignant dragging him into the narrative that they might gratify malice in making free with a very bad character. Holman Hunt has a famous picture of Jesus. Josephus writes that Herod the Great (father of Archelaus) was in Jericho at the time of his death. He had no sooner come to the throne than he began by annihilating the Sanhedrin, the supreme court of the Jews. Matthew again claimed that another event surrounding Jesus birth fulfilled prophecy (Matthew 2:17). Further, the caution against a lavishing of what was holy and beautiful on the profane is followed by rich and repeated encouragements to count on our Father's grace. He refused to allow any harm to come to Jesus or his parents. "Go," he said, "and make every effort to find out about the little child. Not so; there are four distinct voices blending in the truest harmony, and surely God Himself in each one, and equally in all, but, withal, showing out fully and distinctively the excellencies of His Son. His going to Capernaum was the accomplishment of the word of Isaiah 9:1-21, specifically mentioned for the instruction of the Jew, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, "The land of Zebulun, and the land of Nephthalim, by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles. Verse Matthew 2:18. And he ordered that the moment he died, they should all be killed. 22 But when he heard that Archelaus was ruling over Judea in place of his father Herod, * he was afraid to go back there. was reigning (Matthew 2:22)? But now the tradition that there were three is almost universal. Incidentally, Matthew only quoted Isaiah and Jeremiah by name of all the prophets he quoted. ], Cooper called this "literal prophecy plus an application." And he speaks about His sitting upon the throne and reigning. (Luke 19:12, 19:14, 19:27). It is from here that Jeremiah, himself a captive, sees his fellow countrymen carried away in chains. Accordingly, in the gospel of Matthew, the Spirit of God fixes our attention upon these facts. It is indeed, I might say, when souls are thus blessed that Satan's temptations are apt to come.