Spoken by the Prophet

Remembering that Matthew is bringing in these links

Writing under the influence of the Holy Spirit

Two Pieces of the Story

…form the centerpiece of this portion of the narrative and two specific piece of prophecy

The actions of Joseph

The actions of Herod

We’ll follow the pattern we’ve been using: history, backstory, our story

History

Jesus had been born; Magi had come and gone—warned by God to avoid Herod

(wish we knew more about that dream…but we don’t)

It would be nice to know who the angel was---Gabriel appears to Mary, Zachariah, likely him…we don’t know

(a lot of angelology we don’t know—don’t really need to know)

Backstory

Hosea 11:1 ESV

When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son.

There is a bit of history between God’s people and Egypt

Abram—fled there after leaving Haram; arriving at Shechem; driven out due to famine

Returned to the same general area—quite wealthy

(another story for another day)

A few generations later...

Joseph, son of Jacob (Israel) arrived there, as a result of treachery of his brothers

Provided for the survival of sons of Israel

Many years there, became enslaved by a different regime

Departed under leadership of Moses,

Conquest of the Promised Land under Joshua

Jeremiah 31:15 ESV

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 no more.”

Curiously, this concept of being “no more” thought has shown up in the account of the sons of Israel getting to Egypt

Genesis 42:13 ESV

And they said, “We, your servants, are twelve brothers, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan, and behold, the youngest is this day with our father, and one is no more.”

Genesis 42:36 ESV

And Jacob their father said to them, “You have bereaved me of my children: Joseph is no more, and Simeon is no more, and now you would take Benjamin. All this has come against me.”

Lamentations 5:7 ESV

Our fathers sinned, and are no more; and we bear their iniquities.

Here we look at the Jeremiah passage

Jeremiah 31:15 ESV

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 no more.”

Middle of a much longer oracle regarding the destruction of Jerusalem and its restoration

Exact timing???

It’s a picture of the nation (as a mother) mourning the great loss of her offspring—this a part of God’s judgment

Our Story

Sounding like something of a broken record...

Joseph’s escape to Egypt, avoided the “massacre of the innocents”

(artistic license has probably made this larger than it was. Only a small village, how many boys under 2 would there be

…even expanding to the surrounding villages and towns, likely not as many as the artists depict

One message to us is to be faithful to what, when and where God calls, however the call may come

The other tells of the tenacity of Satan…and the continuing, and overwhelming victory to come, of the Father

A quick lesson in demonology

Satan is NOT omniscient, nor omnipresent

He may have known that the Son of God was to be born on earth

…maybe even where

He would not have known when

Even then, we have the presence of the heavenly hosts…that’s the army of Heaven

Not the fluffy Rafael angels of literature (most of our images come from intertestamental times—apocrypha

This marks the first time Satan’s work to destroy the Christ—Messiah—was visible

Always satanic forces working

Herod, in this case became an agent of Satan

…and Satan failed

There would be further attempts

The storm on the Sea of Galilee

He woke, calmed the storm, made a lesson out of it for the disciples, to name one

Satan thought he had him when the crowds turned against Him in Jerusalem

…the Romans hung Him on the cross… and He rose again

Plenty of active work against the cause of Christ since

Hitler—swastika replaced the cross; Mein Kampf replaced the Bible in the churches

A host of other leaders

Satan cannot defeat the Son of God…so he attacks those who follow Him

We witness persecution around the world on a daily basis

…now in the news are the Mennonite missionaries in Haiti

He throws many trials and temptations our way—Christian leaders fail and fall

He interjects bad doctrine into society …which creeps into the churches…into the seminaries, into denominations...

A new twist on an old heresy

HERESY: Jesus did not exist before His birth in Bethlehem

It’s been around since the 4th century, at least

Arius, Nicea, St. Nick...

Lifeway Research”

Though 72% people in the US believe in the nativity…even more 91% celebrate it

…only 31% of “active Christians believe He existed before His birth in Bethlehem

More of getting the “rest of the story”

We’ve been working on getting the facts of the need for the resurrection into our belief;

Also need His pre-existence.

If not that, there is no eternality to Christ

If that is not so, John is wrong...Paul is wrong…they’re all wrong…the Bible is a myth

We don’t need to have an angel appear in a dream to tell us the danger

We know that enemies of the truth will come

Some will be blatant outright contradictions of Scripture

Others, subtle twists

2 Timothy 4:3 ESV

For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions,

Other verses; we’ll stop with this one....

One more piece of being sure we have the whole story of who Jesus is

Eternal God, willing to come into human form

Bore our sins

…Intercedes for us

…and understands us

Hebrews 4:15 ESV

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.