Matthew 02

The Visit of the Wise Men

¹ After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, in the time of King Herod, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem

Many Christmas cards and songs teach that there were three wise men, but the number was not given in Scripture. The wise men are plural, so there were at least two.

The wise men from the East were from Babylon. When Israel was taken into captivity by Babylon 400 years earlier, a Jewish teenager named Daniel interpreted a divine dream for King Nebuchadnezzar. King Nebuchadnezzar was so impressed, that he made Daniel the head of his school of astrologers. Daniel wrote half of his book in Aramaic which was the official language of the Babylonians. The wise men from the East had a copy of Daniel's book. Chapter 9 of Daniel gave the exact time that the Messiah would be born. Therefore, these Babylonian astrologers knew the exact day in which the Messiah would be born.

Even before Daniel, there was another astrologer from Babylon named Balaam, He was hired by the king of the Moabites to curse Israel. However, it is impossible for one to curse whom God has blessed. Therefore, God controlled the tongue of Balaam. Instead of cursing Israel, Balaam gave out four blessings instead of curses. These four blessings were recorded in Numbers 22-24. In Numbers 24:17, there was a prophecy that a star would come out of Jacob which was connected to the Messiah.

Usually, the Bible should be taken literally, unless there is strong evidence not to do so. There is unquestionable evidence that this star that the Babylonian wise men followed was not an actual star, but it was the Shekinah Glory. The Shekinah Glory is the visible presence of God. The Shekinah Glory was to come out of Jacob. Jacob is a metaphor for Israel.

Therefore, the Babylonian astrologers knew both of these prophecies of Daniel and Balaam. They knew the exact date that the Jewish Messiah would be born. They knew that the Messiah would be born in Israel. Since Jerusalem was the capital of Israel, they assumed that the Messiah would be born in Jerusalem.

² saying, “Where is the one who is born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”

The Greek for "his star" is αὐτοῦ τὸν ἀστέρα (auto ton aster), an accusative masculine singular noun with a genitive pronoun. There is a Greek article, meaning "the specific star of him." The "him" is the King of the Jews.

The wise men from Babylon followed this specific star or the King of the Jews. This again shows that this was not just a normal star in the sky. It was the Shekinah Glory of the King of the Jews. The wise men from the East had come to worship the King of the Jews. From Daniel's former teachings of 400 years earlier, they understood that the King of the Jews was God Himself in the flesh. He was going to enter the world as a human baby. The wise men of Babylon understood what none of the rabbi of Israel could understand. This verse shows how one godly teenager influenced a nation 400 years later.

³ When King Herod heard this he was alarmed, and all Jerusalem with him.

King Herod did not want a Messianic King from heaven to come down from heaven and replace him. Neither did the Jewish rabbi want to lose their favored position in the Roman Empire. 

⁴ After assembling all the chief priests and experts in the law, he asked them where the Christ was to be born.

All of the rabbi were brought together by King Herod to find out exactly where the Messiah was to be born.

⁵ “In Bethlehem of Judea,” they said, “for it is written this way by the prophet:

The Jewish rabbi had the prophecy of Micah 5:2, because he was a Jewish prophet. The wise men from Babylon did not have access to this prophecy. Therefore, the Babylonian wise men assumed that the Messiah would be born in Jerusalem.

⁶ ‘And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are in no way least among the rulers of Judah, for out of you will come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.’”

There were two Bethlehems in Israel. One Bethlehem was in Judea. The other Bethlehem was in Galilee. Notice that Micah pointed out that the Messiah would be born in the Bethlehem of Judah. Micah made this prediction 700 years before Jesus was born.

⁷ Then Herod privately summoned the wise men and determined from them when the star had appeared.

King Herod was concerned and cunning. He wanted to know exactly when this star appeared. This star had appeared two years earlier. By this time, Joseph and Mary were no longer living in a burial cave of shepherds. They had moved into the City of Bethlehem. Therefore, all of the Christmas cards are wrong when they show shepherds and wise men meeting together in a manger. Their visitations were about two years apart.

⁸ He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and look carefully for the child. When you find him, inform me so that I can go and worship him as well.”

Herod really wanted to kill the Messiah.

⁹ After listening to the king they left, and once again the star they saw when it rose led them until it stopped above the place where the child was.

A normal star cannot stop over a city. It would burn the entire earth, killing all life. This was the Shekinah Glory. Notice that it also changed directions. Babylon to Jerusalem was East to West. Jerusalem to Bethlehem was South to East.

¹⁰ When they saw the star they shouted joyfully.

The wise men had no idea how to find a baby in Bethlehem. The Shekinah Glory led them directly to the child.

¹¹ As they came into the house and saw the child with Mary his mother, they bowed down and worshiped him. They opened their treasure boxes and gave him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

The house was not a manger built of straw. It was a burial cave in which shepherds used to protect their sheep from harsh weather.

The wise men recognized that this baby was the God of the universe who could have spoken the universe out of existence. They received all of their information from a teenage Jewish boy named Daniel who had lived 400 years before the birth of Jesus. This goes to show the influence that one godly teenager can have upon a society.

Many commentators teach that because there were three gifts, then there were only three wise men. However, the text does not state the number of the wise men. It only states the number of their gifts. These three gifts were symbolic. Gold was a symbol of a king. Frankincense was a symbol of deity. Myrrh was a symbol of sacrifice and death. Jesus was a King. He was deity. He was a sacrifice of death.

After looking at the text of Scriptures, there are many errors in modern Christmas songs, cards, legends, and decorations. For example, the song "Hark the Herald Angels Sing" is not accurate, because the Scriptures do not state that the angels were singing. The song "Away in a Manger" is incorrect, because Jesus was born in a burial cave. The song "Joy to the World" is more about the second coming of Christ than the first coming of Christ. "The Little Drummer Boy" most likely did not exist, because the only people recorded to visit at the birth of Jesus were that of Bethlehem shepherds. The only animals that would have been there were the donkeys that Joseph and Mary traveled upon for the trip, and possibly some sheep or goats if there was bad weather. Also, the wise men were not kings, but astrologers. There were not three kings fem the Orient (China), because the number of kings was not recorded in Scripture. They were not from the Orient, but from Babylon. The last line of the song is very accurate, as they brought gifts of king, deity, and sacrifice. 

There are many manger scenes that are inaccurate as well. The location was not in a barn-like manger, but a burial cave. The shepherds and wise men were not there together, as there was a two-year difference between their visits. Jesus was wrapped not in a swaddling cloth, but in a burial cloth.

Many claim that Jesus could not have been born on Christmas, because shepherds do not take their sheep out in December. This is inaccurate, because shepherds have always taken their sheep out in Bethlehem in December. Modern Bethlehem shepherds still take their sheep out in December to this very day. The truth is that Jesus could have been born in December, but He could also have been born on any other day of the year. The Bible is silent on this issue.

The last point that needs to be made is that when the Messianic King arrived on earth, very few were there to worship Him. There were a few shepherds from Bethlehem and some wise men from Babylon, but that was it. Kings from all over the world should have been there to worship the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. As far as the Jews who were given the privilege of writing, recording, keeping, and protecting the Scriptures, only Elizabeth, Simeon, and Anna even knew that the Messianic King had arrived. There were no Pharisees, Sadducees, or Scribes there to meet them. Even when the wise men showed up in Jerusalem looking for the Messiah, the scribes pointed out that He would be born in Bethlehem. However, as far as what is known in the text, none of them made the trip to Bethlehem. The Messiah had arrived, but not very many people were interested. 

¹² After being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they went back by another route to their own country.

The wise men of Babylon returned back to their land with knowledge that a King who was both God and man had been born. What did they do with this knowledge? Did any of these men return? Did they spread the knowledge to others in Babylon? Did they spread the knowledge to other nations? The historical fiction novel Ben Hur was about one of these wise men who did return thirty years later to follow the ministry of this Messianic King. However, when the wise men found the Messiah all grown up, He was being crucified. Many have seen this movie, but this author highly recommends the book. It is written and presented at a much deeper level. 

The Escape to Egypt

¹³ After they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother and flee to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to look for the child to kill him.”

An angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. The angel commanded him to leave Bethlehem with his family and head to Egypt. Satan was using Herod in an attempt to kill the Messianic King before He could grow up and crush Satan's head, as prophesied in Genesis 3:15. Joseph and Mary were to take the baby Jesus and flee to Egypt.

Many charismatics use this verse to claim that they have dreams from God. Then, they sell books and make lots of money. According to Jude, the Scriptures were given "once and for all." Once the Bible was completed, there was no more divine knowledge available. Therefore, do not bother buying these books. Everything that God intended to say is written in the Scriptures.

¹⁴ Then he got up, took the child and his mother during the night, and went to Egypt.

Joseph and his family had to sneak out of the city at night in order to save the life of Jesus. God could have supernaturally protected Jesus with innumerable armies of angels. However, He chose to save Him in a late-night sneak away.

¹⁵ He stayed there until Herod died. In this way what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet was fulfilled: “I called my Son out of Egypt.”

King Herod died about one year later. He left his inheritance to his three sons. 

According to Exodus 4:22-23, Israel was the national son of God. In Hosea 11:1, the literal meaning of this passage was looking back to the Exodus when Israel was called out of Egypt. However, the Holy Spirit also made this verse a typology of Scripture. Just as Israel, the national son of Israel was called out of Egypt, so was Jesus, the Messianic Son of God, called out of Egypt.

Matthew saw this connection and recorded this typology in Scripture, only because it was revealed to him through the Holy Spirit. Many theologians will make typologies out of events in the Old Testament, such as Joseph being a type of Christ since he was rejected by his brothers. However, Bible students need to be very careful not to spiritualize these passages and make them typological. The safest way to study typologies is to only accept the ones that are given in Scripture. Otherwise, believers are giving Bible teachers the authority to spiritualize the Scriptures and make them say what humans want them to say rather than what God wants them to say.

¹⁶ When Herod saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, he became enraged. He sent men to kill all the children in Bethlehem and throughout the surrounding region from the age of two and under, according to the time he had learned from the wise men.

King Herod was not great. He was a paranoid killer. Many times, historians will call evil rulers "great," mostly because of the land that they have accumulated by war, murder, theft, plunder, and rape. This is the viewpoint of the satanic world system. These men were not "great." They were nothing but murderers, gangsters, thieves, and rapists. They worshipped power and would sell their souls to obtain it and keep it. This is why Daniel wrote that political leaders were "the basest of men."

Satan is going to put his men on the throne. God allows him to do this, because man is so depraved and evil, that man gets the kinds of leaders that he deserves. For example in America, the electorate will place evil men in political offices. These leaders will enforce anti-biblical laws, such as abortion, same-sex marriage, socialism (which is stealing from those who are producing and giving to those who are not producing), protection of pornography, global warming, and censorship of the Word of God in public schools.

If a godly man does decide to run for political office, then the social media will destroy him. This is all part of the satanic world system. Although this sounds bad to the believer, God will actually turn all of these evil politics into good. The electorate will eventually create laws which will turn the world over to the Antichrist. The Antichrist will attempt to exterminate the Jews. The Jews will be in such a desperate position, that they will eventually turn to God. When they turn to God, they will believe in Jesus as the Messiah. When they believe in Jesus, they will finally cry out "Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord." This will cause Jesus to return, conquer the Antichrist, purge evil out of the world, and establish the Millennial Kingdom. Therefore, although all of these things look bad to the believer, it is all part of God's sovereign divine plan. In the meantime, the believer is to study the Scriptures at the deepest level and apply what he has learned.

King Herod killed all of the babies two years old and younger. Herod was not great. He was so paranoid and evil that he saw two year olds as a threat to his throne. Just like the abortionists, he murdered them to keep his earthly position of luxury.

¹⁷ Then what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled:

Jeremiah was the weeping prophet who warned Israel that if they did not turn back to God, then they would be taken captive by Babylon. He lived 700 years before the birth of Christ.

¹⁸ “A voice was heard in Ramah, weeping and loud wailing, Rachel weeping for her children, and she did not want to be comforted, because they were gone.”

This quote comes for Jeremiah 31:15. In this context, Jeremiah warned Israel to turn back to God or they would be taken captive by Babylon. Israel refused to listen to him, so Babylon conquered her. Babylon gathered up all of the Jewish prisoners-of-wars and marched them to Babylon. They marched by the city of Ramah. Rachel was buried in Ramah. Rachel was known as "the National Mother of Israel," since she was the favored wife of Jacob. Jacob fathered the original 12 tribes of Israel. As the Jewish soldiers were marching by the city of Ramah, all of the Jewish mothers gathered in the streets and cried for their sons, because they knew that they would never see them again.

Therefore, this was another historical event that the Holy Spirit turned into a typological prophecy. This was a prophecy of similarity. There were some differences in the purpose of weeping between the two groups of mothers of different generations. The Jewish mothers of Jeremiah's generation were weeping for older sons who were being taken captive into Babylon. The Jewish mothers of Matthew's generation were weeping for their young babies who were actually killed by Herod's soldiers. The similarity was that the Jewish women in Ramah were weeping for their babies, just as the Jewish women in Ramah centuries earlier had wept for their sons who were taken into captivity. Matthew could only see this typology through the revelation of the Holy Spirit. 

The Return to Nazareth

¹⁹ After Herod had died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt

Herod died about a year later. When he died, his kingdom was divided among his three sons.

²⁰ saying, “Get up, take the child and his mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who were seeking the child’s life are dead.”

Joseph and his family stayed in Egypt for about two years. Since they were living in poverty, where did they get the resources? The gold, frankincense, and myrrh could have easily supported them.

²¹ So he got up and took the child and his mother and returned to the land of Israel.

Joseph and his family return to Israel to bring Jesus up as a Jewish student of the Scriptures.

²² But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. After being warned in a dream, he went to the regions of Galilee.

King Herod had divided his kingdom among his three remaining sons. Herod Archelaus was reigning over Samaria and Judea. Herod Archelaus was even worse than his father Herod. On the day of his crowning, he killed 3000 Jews. He ordered this murder in the Temple Compound during Passover. 

Joseph was warned in a dream to go live in the area of Galilee. Galilee was ruled by Herod Antipas, who was a much milder and less violent Herod ruler. Therefore, Joseph chose not to go back to Bethlehem, but to go back to Nazareth. Nazareth was in Galilee.

²³ He came to a town called Nazareth and lived there. Then what had been spoken by the prophets was fulfilled, that Jesus would be called a Nazarene.

Those from Galilee were looked down upon by those who were from Judea. Judea was an area with the best rabbinic schools. The rabbi often said, "If you want to get rich, go north to Galilee. If you want to get wise, then go south to Judea." There were no rabbinic schools in Galilee at this time.

Nazarene was a Roman garrison in Galilee. The economy of the city was supported by that of mostly Roman soldiers. Roman soldiers were those who killed for their emperors. They were murderers for profit. Therefore, this city was despised not only by Judeans, but by Galileans as well. There were many insulting jokes told about the Nazarenes, much like the racial jokes of today.

Since Jesus would be raised in the region of Galilee where there were no rabbinic schools and in the town of Nazareth which was even despised by His fellow Galileans, then this attack will be used against Him later in His ministry. Even one of the disciples of Jesus will say, "Is there anything good that can come out of Nazareth."

This specific prophecy cannot be found anywhere in the Old Testament. Many point out that this was the prophecy of Isaiah 11:1, but this is only partially correct. Notice that the prophets are plural. Therefore, it cannot be just a prophecy of Isaiah 11:1. This is a summation of many of the prophets who predicted that the Messiah would be despised and rejected, such as Psalm 22, Isaiah 53, Isaiah 11:1, and many others. Therefore, the Holy Spirit allowed Matthew to combine many prophecies together into one summary statement, "Jesus would be called a Nazarene." In other words, He would be despised and rejected.