The Purpose of the People of God - 2:13-23
The Purpose of the People of God - Matthew • Sermon • Submitted • Presented • 39:23
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The Purpose of the People of God
The Purpose of the People of God
I wonder if the weight of life has ever been heavy.
Have you ever been hopeless?
Matthew’s Audience
Jewish Believers (Early Church)
Exile
Enduring Persecution
Why did Matthew write this to his audience?
13 Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, “Get up! Take the Child and His mother and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is going to search for the Child to destroy Him.” 14 So Joseph got up and took the Child and His mother while it was still night, and departed for Egypt.
15 And he remained there until the death of Herod, in order that what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet would be fulfilled, saying, “Out of Egypt I called My Son.”
16 Then when Herod saw that he had been tricked by the magi, he became very enraged, and sent and slew all the male children who were in Bethlehem and all its vicinity, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had carefully determined from the magi.
17 Then what had been spoken through Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled, saying, 18 “A voice was heard in Ramah, Weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children; And she was refusing to be comforted, Because they were no more.”
19 But when Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying, 20 “Get up, take the Child and His mother, and go into the land of Israel; for those who sought the Child’s life are dead.” 21 So Joseph got up, took the Child and His mother, and came into the land of Israel.
22 But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Then after being warned by God in a dream, he departed for the district of Galilee, 23 and came and lived in a city called Nazareth, so that what was spoken through the prophets would be fulfilled: “He shall be called a Nazarene.”
Let’s Pray
12 And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, the magi departed for their own country by another way.
13 Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, “Get up! Take the Child and His mother and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is going to search for the Child to destroy Him.”
Here the text takes a turn from the Magi being the main characters, to Joseph.
Now this isn’t the first time we’ve been introduced to Joseph. You may remember from Matthew 1.18-25 where we dealt with Joseph’s decision regarding Mary.
Message provided to Joseph in his first dream?
The Angels quote Isa 7:14, but we ALWAYS need to look at OT quotations in context.
9 If you do not establish your faith in Yahweh, you surely shall not be established.” ’ ”
“If you do not believe your faith, you surely shall not be believed.”
The sign of this is Isa 7.14
14 “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel.
23 “Behold, the virgin shall be with child and shall bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which translated means, “God with us.”
The message provided Joseph was stand firm in your faith. Jesus is the sign of that.
and Joseph chose honor before the Lord over honor before men.
This is the Joseph we have here in today’s text.
13 Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, “Get up! Take the Child and His mother and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is going to search for the Child to destroy Him.”
When they had departed:
Close in timeframe
BEHOLD! - Pay Attention
Now this is Joseph’s second dream. (~2 years ago)
What is the content?
Two Commands
Take!
Flee!
13 Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, “Get up! Take! the Child and His mother and flee! to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is going to search for the Child to destroy Him.”
Indefinite Timeframe: “until I tell you” = “until I should say to you”
Why? γαρ = “Herod is going to search for the Child to destroy Him.”
So we’ve got 2 commands, an indefinite timeframe, and life and death hangs in the balance.
This is a strong message provided to Joseph!
Theology - απολλυμι OR απωλεια
Destroy or Destruction (24 uses in Matthew)
25 And they came to Him and got Him up, saying, “Save us, Lord; we are perishing!”
17 “Nor do people put new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the wineskins burst, and the wine pours out and the wineskins are ruined; but they put new wine into fresh wineskins, and both are preserved.”
6 but rather go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
42 “And whoever in the name of a disciple gives to one of these little ones even a cup of cold water to drink, truly I say to you, he shall not lose his reward.”
7 “But the king was enraged, and he sent his armies and destroyed those murderers and set their city on fire.
20 But the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowds to ask for Barabbas and to put Jesus to death.
So I ask, does Matthew always use destruction to mean someone will spend eternity in the Lake of fire separated from God? No he does not, so we need to read closely when we approach words like destruction, life, Gehenna, fire, soul, and many others.
39 “He who has found his life will lose it, and he who has lost his life for My sake will find it.
Matthew is writing about discipleship!
CONTEXT IS KEY!
All the verses using “destruction” - Matthew 2:13, 5:29, 5:30, 7:13, 8:25, 9:17, 10:6, 10:28, 10:39, 10:42, 12:14, 15:24, 16:25, 18:11, 18:14, 21:41, 22:7, 26:8, 26:52, 27:20
13 Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, “Get up! Take the Child and His mother and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is going to search for the Child to destroy Him.”
So back to our verse, Joseph has been given 2 commands, an indefinite time period, and a reason.
14 So Joseph got up and took the Child and His mother while it was still night, and departed for Egypt.
In the course of the night, Joseph obeys.
This is the second time, Joseph has been given a dream and has obeyed immediately.
15 And he remained there until the death of Herod, in order that what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet would be fulfilled, saying, “Out of Egypt I called My Son.”
You may remember Balaam:
17 “I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near; A star shall come forth from Jacob, A scepter shall rise from Israel, And shall crush through the forehead of Moab, And tear down all the sons of Sheth.
8 “God brings him out of Egypt, He is for him like the horns of the wild ox. He will devour the nations who are his adversaries, And will gnaw their bones in pieces, And shatter them with his arrows.
1 When Israel was a youth I loved him, And out of Egypt I called My son.
15 And he remained there until the death of Herod, in order that what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet would be fulfilled, saying, “Out of Egypt I called My Son.”
In our context here, Matthew is using Jesus as the representative of faithful Israel
So what story comes to mind regarding Israel for a Jewish audience?
16 Then when Herod saw that he had been tricked by the magi, he became very enraged, and sent and slew all the male children who were in Bethlehem and all its vicinity, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had carefully determined from the magi.
Herod’s plot is revealed
what he intends
the timeframe (2 years)
So what story comes to mind for a Jewish reader?
Exodus chapter 1, Pharoah orders the killing of the Hebrew babies.
Matthew has created a framework of the Exodus.
What was the purpose of the Exodus?
6 “Say, therefore, to the sons of Israel, ‘I am Yahweh, and I will bring you out from under the hard labors of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from their slavery. I will also redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments.
Matthew is painting the picture that the means for a new Exodus has arrived. But this one is different than the prior one.
Remember, who is Jesus?
1 The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham:
The Son of Abraham, the Son of David - The Jewish Messiah
What will Jesus do?
21 “And she will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”
Jesus has come for redemption.
Israel! Your redemption is here!
17 Then what had been spoken through Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled, saying,
18 “A voice was heard in Ramah, Weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children; And she was refusing to be comforted, Because they were no more.”
What do we do with OT quotations? We always look at them in context.
This is a quotation of Jer 31.15 and Jeremiah is writing in the context of exile.
Your Homework - Go read Jeremiah 30-31!
1 The word which came to Jeremiah from Yahweh, saying, 2 “Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, ‘Write all the words which I have spoken to you in a book.
3 ‘For behold, days are coming,’ declares Yahweh, ‘when I will return the fortunes of My people Israel and Judah.’ Yahweh says, ‘I will also cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it.’”
What does it mean to possess the land?
Possessing the Land is not salvation
The Land, is guaranteed to Israel in the Abrahamic Covenant (Gen 12, 15, 17)
But the land is possessed and inherited in accordance with the Mosaic Law (Deut 28-30)
As such, possessing the land is something that is guaranteed to occur, but occurs in conjunction with Israel’s obedience, especially its King.
Israel’s possession and inheritance of the land is one of the strongest proof texts for the Doctrine of Rewards in the Old Testament.
24 The burning anger of Yahweh will not turn back Until He has done and until He has established The intent of His heart; In the last days you will understand this. 1 “At that time,” declares Yahweh, “I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be My people.”
15 Thus says Yahweh, “A voice is heard in Ramah, Wailing and bitter weeping. Rachel is weeping for her children; She refuses to be comforted for her children Because they are no more.”
16 Thus says Yahweh, “Restrain your voice from weeping And your eyes from tears, For your work will be rewarded,” declares Yahweh, “And they will return from the land of the enemy.
17 “And there is hope for your future,” declares Yahweh, “And your children will return to their own territory.
THIS IS IN THE CONTEXT OF HOPE!!!!!
THIS IS A PROPHECY OF HOPE!!!!!
READ Jeremiah 30-31 and you will have a much different perspective of our text today.
The inauguration of hope has arrived!
19 But when Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying,
Dream #3
20 “Get up, take the Child and His mother, and go into the land of Israel; for those who sought the Child’s life are dead.”
Once again, 2 commands
20 “Get up, take! the Child and His mother, and go! into the land of Israel; for those who sought the Child’s life are dead.”
Take
Go
19 And Yahweh said to Moses in Midian, “Go, return to Egypt, for all the men who were seeking your life are dead.”
How does Joseph respond?
21 So Joseph got up, took the Child and His mother, and came into the land of Israel.
He obeys
Matthew is paralleling the coming of Jesus with the coming of Moses.
22 But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Then after being warned by God in a dream, he departed for the district of Galilee,
Most of your translations begin with “but.” However, in the Greek, this is not necessarily framed as a contrastive statement. It is δε which is simply a marker of new information, that may or may not be connected to what came previously.
Clearly this is connected, but we should read this as new information, not as a contrast to obedience.
Green was under Herod Archelaus
Red under Herod Antipas
Purple under Herod Philip
Archelaus reigned ~10 years.
He was later deemed unfit for rule and the post was given to Roman governors which would be called “procurators.”
Post would be held by Pontius Pilate.
Was not designated as King by Caesar Augustus
Augustus split the territory between the three of them
Was hated by his brother, Herod Antipas
Slaughtered 3000 Jews in the temple area during Passover.
He Appointed the High Priest
22 But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Then after being warned by God in a dream, he departed for the district of Galilee,
So Joseph’s concern is well placed.
Joseph’s 4th Dream
Joseph takes them to the region of Galilee, under Herod Antipas
23 and came and lived in a city called Nazareth, so that what was spoken through the prophets would be fulfilled: “He shall be called a Nazarene.”
There is no specific Old Testament quotation that fits this wording.
Matthew uses a play on words here with the Hebrew word nazir.
“Nazarite Vow” - Numbers 6 or Samson in Judges 13-16
Nazarine - One set apart for God
24 saying, “What do we have to do with You, Jesus the Nazarene? Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are—the Holy One of God!”
23 and came and lived in a city called Nazareth, so that what was spoken through the prophets would be fulfilled: “He shall be called a Nazarene.”
Matthew’s quotation, though inclusive of where Jesus has come from, in a marker of Jesus’ purpose. He is the Holy One of God - He brings redemption. Israel, your exodus has come.
So what is Matthew’s message here?
Believers, your redemption has come!
Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow
Your redemption has come!
Not just in the power of salvation from eternal separation but in the power of salvation and relationship with Him today!
As we’re going to see, Matthew is writing to change the way these believers live. This is why we study Scripture, to change the way that we live.
Matthew is writing them to say live in accordance with the hope you have in your redeemer!
Are you living in accordance with the hope that you have in Jesus?
Let’s Pray
21 “And she will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”
