Three More Prophecies about Christ – Matthew 2:13-26

 If my math is correct, we have a total of four prophecies about Christ here in this chapter. We have sufficiently dealt with the first one – the prophecy from Micah 5 – “But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.” That is a prophecy with such magnitude and importance that it demands careful consideration. It is one of those prophecies which reaches 8.9 on the Biblical Richter scale. And the tsunami that it creates should be seriously considered by any and all unbelievers. But what about the three other prophecies that we have here? They are more like little aftershocks of a magnitude of only 3 or 4, or even 1. By themselves they would not convince an atheist or agnostic of anything. But when their weight is added to that of the major quake, they can do some serious damage to the house that is built on the sand.

None of the remaining three prophecies are significant enough for a message on their own. So I’m going to look at all three of them as a group, using three different key words. We touched on one of these things a few weeks ago, but we’ll try to look through different eyes tonight. And some of these points will be new to us.

Let’s start with the word “DIVINITY.”I don’t need to stress this word in this congregation, because I know what you believe. But there is a slight twist which I need to point out. It is one of the doctrines of our church, and therefore I’m assuming that it is a tenant to which the members of this church hold – that … the Holy Spirit inspired what we read in the Bible – including what we find in the Old Testament. We don’t believe that the Spirit merely excited, or inspired, His prophets to speak on various subjects. We believe that the Holy Spirit actually inspired the very words which they preached or wrote. “For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.” “All (every) scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.” The word “inspiration” as Paul used it in his day, meant that the all scripture was “God breathed.” So we can go back to Micah, Jeremiah, Isaiah, or even Moses and David, believing that what they wrote was exactly what the Lord intended them to write.

As you shall see in a few minutes, you might think that these prophecies are really obscure. You may think that Matthew is pushing too hard in order to make the original scripture match up with his interpretation. But remember that the New Testament is just as inspired of God as the Old Testament. Matthew is being lead of the Holy Spirit just as much as Isaiah had been 700 years earlier. “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine.”

One of the words which is always directly related to scriptural prophecy is “divinity.”

With that in mind we come to the word “CONTROVERSY.”Let’s say that for some reason this evening, one of these prophecies strikes your heart like an earthquake. You get all excited about it, and it blesses your soul in some significant way. So much so that you want to share it with your unsaved cousin or your co-worker. With delight, you hand him your Bible and point to the Old Testament scripture, and it’s fulfilment here. But then he tells you that he just doesn’t see it, or that he doesn’t see it your way. When it comes to some prophecies, there could very well be controversy and arguments. But remember that in regard to interpreting these three prophecies, you aren’t quoting your pastor, you’re quoting Matthew, who was writing under the leadership of the Lord. Don’t let the controversy discourage you or turn you from the truth.

With the permission of God, Joseph took his wife and her young baby from Bethlehem down into Egypt. If you think about it, this was highly unusual. Centuries earlier, Jeremiah, the prophet, had been urging people not to go into Egypt, but they went anyway, dragged him with them kicking and screaming. And Israel spent 400 years of slavery in that place. And Abraham got into big trouble when he went down into Egypt. Theologically, Egypt is a picture of the world – a place where sin and secularism reign. But in this case there goes the royal family. You might say that they were in Egypt, but they were not of Egypt. Do you suppose that this little family had a positive spiritual effect on anyone there? They were probably living among Hebrew people, not among the Egyptians themselves, but that is just speculation. Eventually the Lord called Joseph back to Israel, and he immediately obeyed. “That it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I called my son.”

Do use one of the many King James Version reference Bibles that are available to us? If you do, what scripture is given as the source of this prophecy? This Thompson Bible that I bring to the pulpit gives Hosea 11:1 as its only reference. My oldest and favorite Bible, published by World, does the same. But the Bible that I use for Sunday offers Hosea and Numbers 24 – one of the prophecies of Balaam. Listen to Balaam and tell me if this is Matthew’s reference? “How goodly are thy tents, O Jacob, and thy tabernacles, O Israel! As the valleys are they spread forth, as gardens by the river’s side, as the trees of lign aloes which the LORD hath planted, and as cedar trees beside the waters. He shall pour the water out of his buckets, and his seed shall be in many waters, and his king shall be higher than Agag, and his kingdom shall be exalted. God brought him forth out of Egypt; he hath as it were the strength of an unicorn: he shall eat up the nations his enemies, and shall break their bones, and pierce them through with his arrows.”

I don’t think that Numbers 24 has anything to do with God “calling his Son out of Egypt.” But what about Hosea 11? “When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt. As they called them, so they went from them: they sacrificed unto Baalim, and burned incense to graven images. I taught Ephraim also to go, taking them by their arms; but they knew not that I healed them. I drew them with cords of a man, with bands of love: and I was to them as they that take off the yoke on their jaws, and I laid meat unto them. He shall not return into the land of Egypt, but the Assyrian shall be his king, because they refused to return. And the sword shall abide on his cities, and shall consume his branches, and devour them, because of their own counsels. And my people are bent to backsliding from me: though they called them to the most High, none at all would exalt him.”

Why does Matthew say that Hosea 11:1 is a prophecy of Christ’s stay in Egypt? Because the Holy Spirit led him to do so. Despite what others might say, and despite the possibility of controversy, we have the inspired words of Matthew. Don’t be afraid of the possible controversy.

Another word which we might use describing some prophecy is “QUIET or QUIETLY.”By that I mean – we may read the words of Jeremiah and not even know that there is prophecy in them.

When the wise men left Judah heading south and didn’t report back to Herod as he suspected, he went ballistic. He sent his troops into the small community just south of Jerusalem with orders to slaughter every male child that they could find under the age of two. Can you imagine what that atrocity did to the people of Bethlehem? Matthew says “Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet, saying, In Rama was there a voice heard, lamentation, and weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not.”

Genesis 35 describes Jacob’s return to Canaan from the land of his in-laws. As he approached the area of Jerusalem, Rachel, who was expecting, went into labor. “And they journeyed from Bethel; and there was but a little way to come to Ephrath: and Rachel travailed, and she had hard labour. And it came to pass, when she was in hard labour, that the midwife said unto her, Fear not; thou shalt have this son also. And it came to pass, as her soul was in departing, (for she died) that she called his name Benoni: but his father called him Benjamin. And Rachel died, and was buried in the way to Ephrath, which is Bethlehem.” Rachel died at Bethlehem, the place where centuries later the Lord Jesus was born. And that was the place where Herod slaughtered those children.

Matthew refers us to Jeremiah 31:10-15. But these words are almost as difficult and controversial as those of Hosea 11:1. Even though there is reference to Rachel and Bethlehem, it’s hard to see the prophecy until we are forced to look back. “Hear the word of the LORD, O ye nations, and declare it in the isles afar off, and say, He that scattered Israel will gather him, and keep him, as a shepherd doth his flock.” It might be argued that Jeremiah was speaking about Israel’s return from Babylon, but I don’t think so. “For the LORD hath redeemed Jacob, and ransomed him from the hand of him that was stronger than he. Therefore they shall come and sing in the height of Zion, and shall flow together to the goodness of the LORD, for wheat, and for wine, and for oil, and for the young of the flock and of the herd: and their soul shall be as a watered garden; and they shall not sorrow any more at all. Then shall the virgin rejoice in the dance, both young men and old together: for I will turn their mourning into joy, and will comfort them, and make them rejoice from their sorrow. And I will satiate the soul of the priests with fatness, and my people shall be satisfied with my goodness, saith the LORD. Thus saith the LORD; A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, and bitter weeping; Rahel weeping for her children refused to be comforted for her children, because they were not. Thus saith the LORD; Refrain thy voice from weeping, and thine eyes from tears: for thy work shall be rewarded, saith the LORD; and they shall come again from the land of the enemy. And there is hope in thine end, saith the LORD, that thy children shall come again to their own border.”

I seriously doubt that Jeremiah could foresee what Herod was going to do to those little boys in Bethlehem. What Jeremiah said was prophesy, but there may not have been anyone in his day who understood it in this way. Can we call it a silent or quiet prophecy?

For this last prophecy, I want to take the last word and extend it to “SECRETLY.”When Joseph brought his family back to Israel, he feared to return to Bethlehem where Christ had been born. So he went to Nazareth where he and Mary already had some history, and possibly some family. “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: And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, He shall be called a Nazarene.”

John Gill says that the word “prophets” (plural) should be understood somewhat generically, referring not to a number of prophets, but to someone who was among the prophets of God. But which prophet? My Thompson Bible doesn’t give me any reference to the original prophecy. My wide-margin Bible refers me to Judges 13:5 and I Samuel 1:11 saying that the word “Nazarene” speaks of someone “separated.” And the first Bible that I owned after I became a Christian, also refers to Judges 13:5. I Samuel 1:11 records the prayer of Hannah in regard to Samuel – “And she vowed a vow, and said, O LORD of hosts, if thou wilt indeed look on the affliction of thine handmaid, and remember me, and not forget thine handmaid, but wilt give unto thine handmaid a man child, then I will give him unto the LORD all the days of his life, and there shall no razor come upon his head.” Judges 13:5 speaks of the angels words to the mother of Samson. “And the angel of the LORD appeared unto the woman, and said unto her, Behold now, thou art barren, and bearest not: but thou shalt conceive, and bear a son. Now therefore beware, I pray thee, and drink not wine nor strong drink, and eat not any unclean thing: For, lo, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; and no razor shall come on his head: for the child shall be a Nazarite unto God from the womb: and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.” These are the only two references which my three Bibles offer as the source of Matthew’s prophecy. In other words, there is no direct prophecy which says that Christ would live in Nazareth.

In Gill’s commentary, that venerable Baptist doesn’t speak of Judges or Samuel, but of Isaiah. Let me read what he says which is are pertinent to this question. And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth, which was a city of Galilee, and where Joseph and Mary had both dwelt before. Here they came and fixed their habitation, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet… In Isaiah 11:1 – “and there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse,” and run, “a branch shall grow out of his roots”; a prophecy owned by the Jews themselves to belong to the Messiah, and which was now fulfilled in Jesus; who as he was descended from Jesse’s family, so by dwelling at Nazareth, he would appear to be, and would be “called a Nazarene (or Netzer) the branch;” being an inhabitant of Natzareth, or Netzer, so called from the multitude of plants and trees that grew there. A Nazarene, as David de Pomis says “is one that is born in the city Netzer, which is said to be in the land of Galilee, three days journey distant from Jerusalem.” Now though Christ was not born in Nazareth, yet because he dwelt there, and was educated there; hence the Jews frequently call him “Jesus, the Nazarene”; and sometimes only “the Nazarene”.

What Gill offers as an explanation for Matthew has nothing to do with what my Bibles suggested. So the controversy continues. The thing to keep in mind is that whether we understand all of this or not, what Matthew says is the truth. If we are convinced of that fact, then whether or not we can offer a reasonable explanation at this point doesn’t matter. While believing what Matthew is telling us here, I don’t think that any of these last three prophecies should be brought up in our apologetic arguments with the unbeliever. Because they are probably not going to believe us.