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Good evening.

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Good to see everybody this evening.

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Before we get started with the class, we'll go ahead and uh start with a word of prayer.

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Let's bow.

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Dear Lord, our Father in heaven, we thank you so very much for this wonderful time of year
that we get to spend together with our family and friends and the comfort of our home

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being surrounded by our loved ones.

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We thank you also, Lord God, for the ability to come here tonight and learn from your
inspired word and for all those that wrote down your gospel for us to have today.

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Lord God, may we always take to heart the lessons that we learn and apply it in our daily
lives so that we can become stronger, more faithful Christians unto You and hopefully lead

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others to the gospel and to Your saving grace.

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And so, we pray to Thee in Jesus' name, amen.

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So, last week, well, I guess it was this week, Sunday we had went over and started going
through the book of Matthew.

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where we had uh given you guys the key verses, key ideas, and we had taken notes down and
broken up every chapter into verse sections to help it make a little bit more sense.

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When last we left off, we left off at the end of chapter one and we were talking about the
Order of Malchisedec.

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And so, we had an issue there where uh you can't have a priest in the Old Testament

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not be from the tribe of Levi.

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He had to be from the tribe of Levi.

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And so, we had come and I started talking about how we solve this, and we presented one
argument, but then we were going to go over the Jesus priesthood and what it means to be

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from the order of Malchizedek.

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ah Matthew proves that Jesus is the King, but Hebrews explains Jesus is also our High
Priest.

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So, how can He both be King and High Priest?

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In the Old Testament, that was kind of unheard of.

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The problem is that Jesus is from Judah, not the tribe of Levi.

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So, there's a huge difference there.

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Priests have to come from Levi.

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The solution ah is found in Hebrews chapter 5 and verse 6.

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We'll go ahead and have somebody read that for us.

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Hebrews chapter 5 and verse 6.

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after the order of Malchizedek.

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We can also read this if you skip ahead and also read chapter 6 and verse 20.

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Fast forward another chapter, chapter 7 and verse 17.

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see, Hebrews is telling us over and over and over again how he can be both priest and
king.

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Okay, so to...

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To get a little bit more insight, we would need to turn back all the way to Genesis
chapter 14.

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Genesis chapter 14 is where you're going to read about Melchizedek and what happens there
and who he is.

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So, a brief background about Melchizedek because we're trying to get into chapter 2 and 3
tonight if time wills.

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ah Melchizedek was the king of Salem.

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At the time it was known as Salem, it would be known as Jerusalem later on.

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He was a priest of the Most High God.

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And very important here, it's kind of the whole reason for this argument is, he received
tithes from Abraham.

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Something else to note is that Melchizedek appears very suddenly in Scripture.

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Unlike Matthew's account in chapter 1, we don't have a genealogy for Melchizedek like we
did for Jesus.

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It's just not there.

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We don't know his background, we just know ah that he's both king and priest because we
don't have any recorded genealogy there anywhere in the Bible.

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His priesthood is mysterious ah and it's shown to be superior as well.

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And Hebrews 7 explains that

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which we read just a moment ago, Abraham acknowledges Malchisedec's greatness.

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If you have to pay tithes to someone, we pay tithes to the government, don't we?

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Are we greater than the government or is the government greater than us individually?

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The lesser always pays tithes or gives tribute to the greater.

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And so Abraham

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gives, uh I'm trying to say this correctly, Abraham gives Melchizedek tithes because he's
the lesser of the two.

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Yeah, all these names, saying them over and over again gets you tongue tied.

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Therefore, Levi with Abraham's lineage would also have to acknowledge that, right?

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Because they're further down in the line of Abraham.

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Melchizedek's priesthood is older and higher than Levi's.

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is very interesting.

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Now we're told in another spot in the Bible that He could make children of Abraham from
these rocks.

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God has the ability to do whatever He wants, uh but there's a lot of uh parallels between
Melchizedek and Jesus.

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uh Melchizedek is royal, m

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Melchizedek is priestly and Melchizedek was also appointed directly by God.

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Thus, his priesthood is perfect.

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Same as Jesus.

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So, that's how we answer that if someone ever comes to us and says, well, Jesus couldn't
have been the high priest of the Almighty God.

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He can't be both priest and king because he'd have to come from Levi.

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It's not true at all because the Levites were lesser than the lineage of Melchizedek,
which we know from his genealogy that we have.

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So, now we're going to move on to Chapter 2.

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ah which the memory verse that I typically like to assign at this point, especially for
the teens and stuff, would be Matthew 2 and verse 11.

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And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother and
fell down and worshiped him.

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It's a great verse.

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It's kind of the whole idea, the theme of this chapter.

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So if you wanted to write a title at the top of chapter two, you would write something
along the lines of, Jesus is worth seeking.

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This is what I wrote in mine because I feel like it's the theme of the chapter.

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We see the the wise men going to visit Jesus.

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Here we have the search for the king.

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Matthew 2 continues the story, begun in chapter 1, but it focused the shifts dramatically.

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Chapter 1 showed us who Jesus is, who's the rightful king, the promised Messiah, God with
us.

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Chapter 2 is going to show us how the world responds to him.

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So we have uh

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uh beginning story of where He started and now it's now that He started what's everyone's
reaction to it.

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Jesus is worth seeking no matter the distance, no matter the difficulty, and as we see
here no matter the cost.

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This chapter is going to contain things like movement, worship, fear, prophecy, uh but

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I do have a roadmap for our study.

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So I've done the same thing that we did for Chapter 1, and I broke down the verses into
different headings that you're welcome to write down, or if any of you, I've already been

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requested once to print this out.

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Happy to print out tonight's class.

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for Matthew 2 and 3, which I have currently.

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So you guys are welcome to get a copy of that.

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uh But the section wrote that verses 1 through 10.

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And again, I like to just put a little bracket around verses 1 through 10, just the verse
headers there.

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And then I write along that line.

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And I called that following the star.

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Verses 11 through 12 is the next section.

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We're going to have five sections total.

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Section two, verses 11 through 12 is gifts for a king.

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verses 13 through 15 will be the third section and that's going to be the flight into
Egypt.

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Verses 16 through 18 is the story of how Rachel weeps and verses 19 through 23 we're going
to learn about Jesus' hometown.

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So let's go ahead and start in section one.

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We'll start by reading verses one through ten and I'll go ahead and read that from here.

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The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.

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Abraham begat Isaac and Isaac begat Jacob.

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I'm in Matthew chapter 1.

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What am I doing?

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Love it when that happens, technology.

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Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem, that's much better, of Judah in the days of Herod
the king, behold there came a wise man from the east to Jerusalem, saying, Where is he

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that is born of the king of the Jews?

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For we have seen a star in the east, and are come to worship him.

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Well, when Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with
him.

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And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he
demanded of them where Christ should be born.

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Now there's a difference in translation between the new King James

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and the King James, which will go there.

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Raise your hand if your translation says he requested of them or something along those
lines.

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Inquired, OK.

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We'll get on that.

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Continuing on.

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they said unto him in Bethlehem of Judea, For thus it is written by the prophet, and thou,
Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, art not the least among the princes of Judah.

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For out of thee shall come a governor that shall rule my people Israel.

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Then Herod, when he had privily called the wise men, inquired of them diligently what time
the star appeared.

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And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said, Go and search diligently for the young child.

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And when you have found

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So here we have them following the star.

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The wise men or

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Magi, as they would have been called, would have been scholars, astronomers, advisors,
things of that nature, likely taught from Persia or Babylon, which were the centers of

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learning back in that day.

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They traveled a great distance because they knew the newborn king of the Jews was, again,
in line with the theme of the chapter, worth seeking.

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m

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Now Herod the King, historical background, uh we know him mostly as Herod the Great.

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Herod the Great was a master builder.

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We know this because he expanded the temple.

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He did a lot of good building there, but he was also suspicious.

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He was paranoid and he was incredibly violent.

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He murdered several of his own sons.

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He murdered his favorite wife whose name I'm not going to attempt to pronounce.

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I'm not going to pronounce it.

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He murdered her mother and then near his death he ordered leading Jewish men to be killed
so the nation would cry when he died.

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know, back then this was a time where you could hire people as professional mourners.

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It was a job back in ancient Jewish culture.

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uh You would have a whole group of people almost like a choir.

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And instead of paying for the band to show up at the wedding, you pay for the band to show
up at your funeral and they would cry for you, make loud screams, make it feel like, you

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know, someone actually missed you.

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It's a really weird job title.

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It's something we don't think of today.

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But it was very much part of their culture.

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He rolled through fear, cruelty, especially in his late

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years which we see in verses 15 through 16.

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So, biblically Herod appears as a king threatened by prophecy.

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You saw where it said all

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all the nation was afraid when they had heard of the newborn king.

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He was a manipulator.

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He was a liar.

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He was a man of ulterior motives as well as we're going to see.

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So let's go down through the verses because Herod fears Jesus because Jesus is the King.

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He's the true King.

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Now he didn't understand that he was the King of a spiritual kingdom and not a physical
kingdom but we'll get into that.

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Verse 2, a question that is asked is where is he?

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Notice the wise men do not ask

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is He born?

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They ask where is He?

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They firmly believe He's here on this planet.

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They ask where is He that is born King of the Jews?

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They never question the fact, only the location, which shows that they had faith in the
prophecy of Jesus being born.

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They also saw His star as a sign God used to draw them closer to Christ.

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Continuing on to verse 3, can see Herod is troubled.

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The Greek indicates agitation or uh shaking whenever it says fear there.

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Herod's terrified at the idea of rival king and as it says in the scripture, all Jerusalem
with him was troubled because typically when Herod got upset, people died, right?

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He was a very violent king and you don't want a violent king to be afraid of something or
be shaking with fear.

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Verse 4, Herod demands information, important detail.

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And again, there's the translation there.

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What king do you know of that asks their subject nicely for information?

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Do kings typically request things from people?

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Can you deny a king in this day and age?

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Not this day and age, but the day and age back then?

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No, look at what happened to the queen of Sheba.

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He demanded that the chief priests and scribes tell him where Christ should be born.

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didn't want to share it with them, which I think was smart on their part.

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Also note, Jesus is not yet named Jesus to the chief priests because they had no idea who
He was.

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Remember, they're in a totally different area from Joseph and Mary and all that going on.

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They had no idea that His name was Jesus so they couldn't provide a name to help Herod
locate.

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They just knew that Christ was being born so they had to go and find Him.

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They only knew the Christ in the prophecy.

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Which brings us on to verse 6, which can be paralleled with Micah 5-2.

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If someone will go ahead over to Micah 5-2, we'll get that in a second.

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But the scribes quote the prophecy in Micah 5-2.

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Jesus will be born in Bethlehem.

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Alright, let's go ahead and get Micah 5 and verse 2.

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Gotta keep it from jumping up.

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All right.

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Now we see there where they're mimicking that, where they're paralleling the verse in
Micah.

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Something I found interesting when doing this study is who here can tell me the meaning of
the word Bethlehem?

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Like the meaning of my name, Justin, means justice.

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Most names associated with them have a meaning behind them, uh Angelica could be angelic,
things like that.

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Bethlehem, when I looked up the meaning of it, means house of bread of all things.

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It's quite fitting for someone who called themselves the bread of life, right?

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I just found that kind of neat.

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The prophecy says a ruler will come forth, but the word rule carries the Hebrew idea of
shepherding.

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It's not ruling with an ironclad fist, way Herod did, threatening his people, but as a
shepherd would shepherd his sheep, caring, tending for the flock, leading them,

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participating with, being an example for.

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Christ is not only King, we know Him as the shepherd.

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So let's move on to verse seven.

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Herod calls the wise men, privily.

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Can anyone tell me what privily means?

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Privately.

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Yep.

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He summons them in secret.

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Why?

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Now we can't say for certain why, but we can assume that it's because he didn't want the
Jews to know that the prophecy was being fulfilled.

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He wants to keep his reign as king, right?

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He doesn't want to give that up.

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He'd be giving up power.

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He'd be giving up wealth.

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m

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The king Herod had ulterior motives, absolutely.

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So he lies to the wise men, pretending he wants to worship Christ.

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Oh, tell me when you found him, I'd love to go and worship him.

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He's not fooling anybody.

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They know Herod from his past actions.

216
00:17:25,787 --> 00:17:29,410
His real intention was to kill him, and we see that later on.

217
00:17:29,410 --> 00:17:32,452
Verses nine through 10, we see the star leading them.

218
00:17:32,999 --> 00:17:36,863
the star reappears leading them to the exact location.

219
00:17:36,863 --> 00:17:38,327
Now this wasn't...

220
00:17:38,609 --> 00:17:43,080
A lot of times we read, at least if you Google it, you'll see references to the North
Star.

221
00:17:43,080 --> 00:17:47,612
This would not necessarily be the North Star because it said they saw the star to the
east.

222
00:17:47,612 --> 00:17:52,633
This was something that we can assume was put there by God, the star of Bethlehem.

223
00:17:52,633 --> 00:18:05,796
It was something that God put into the world for a temporary time to showcase and lead
them, kind of like how we have the parallel with everyone evacuating Egypt.

224
00:18:05,796 --> 00:18:08,557
They had the pillar of fire by night.

225
00:18:08,789 --> 00:18:13,469
cloud of smoke by day, they would do the same thing here.

226
00:18:13,569 --> 00:18:18,669
Which brings us to section two, gifts for a king.

227
00:18:18,669 --> 00:18:21,329
This is verses 11 through 12.

228
00:18:21,329 --> 00:18:25,829
Let's have someone go ahead and read Matthew chapter 2, 11 through 12.

229
00:18:34,037 --> 00:18:37,417
gifts of gold, of incense, and of myrrh.

230
00:18:37,417 --> 00:18:39,149
And having been warm in

231
00:18:43,733 --> 00:18:46,222
Alright, so here we come to the heart of the chapter.

232
00:18:46,222 --> 00:18:48,609
Jesus is absolutely worth seeking.

233
00:18:48,792 --> 00:18:50,576
He's worth traveling for.

234
00:18:50,813 --> 00:18:54,136
He's worth any price because he's given such wonderful gifts.

235
00:18:54,136 --> 00:18:56,879
He's worth honoring and he's worth worshiping.

236
00:18:56,879 --> 00:19:02,845
So the wise men offer gifts and there's lots of parallels and meanings for this gifts too.

237
00:19:02,845 --> 00:19:09,311
If you look at antiquity and what typically these gifts would have been given to or who
they would have been given for.

238
00:19:09,311 --> 00:19:12,153
So gold would have represented his kingship.

239
00:19:12,153 --> 00:19:16,290
Gold was typically reserved for a gift for specifically just royalty.

240
00:19:16,290 --> 00:19:21,801
Then we have frankincense, usually used in priestly worship.

241
00:19:21,801 --> 00:19:24,667
It's a picture of Christ's divinity, deity.

242
00:19:24,667 --> 00:19:27,392
So frankincense, who can tell me what frankincense is?

243
00:19:30,441 --> 00:19:32,125
Yes, basically incense, right?

244
00:19:32,125 --> 00:19:37,618
So what parallel do we have in the Old Testament that they would have to do when
worshiping God?

245
00:19:37,618 --> 00:19:39,000
They would have to offer...

246
00:19:40,225 --> 00:19:43,657
incense, sacrifices, and they always had to salt the meat, right?

247
00:19:43,657 --> 00:19:44,907
So it would come up.

248
00:19:44,907 --> 00:19:48,569
It's even described in the Old Testament as being a sweet savor to the Lord.

249
00:19:48,569 --> 00:19:54,412
So we have a parallel there with Old Testament sacrifices showing his deity as well.

250
00:19:54,412 --> 00:19:55,792
Then you have myrrh.

251
00:19:55,792 --> 00:19:57,803
This was for his sacrifice.

252
00:19:57,803 --> 00:20:04,616
Myrrh typically is a uh chemical used for embalming and it's a symbol of death.

253
00:20:04,616 --> 00:20:09,859
ah Even at his earliest years, the gifts proclaimed exactly who he was.

254
00:20:10,159 --> 00:20:15,481
that He was given proclaimed that He was King, He was God, and He was Savior.

255
00:20:15,481 --> 00:20:19,122
So, we have all these parallels in the three gifts that we see there.

256
00:20:19,482 --> 00:20:20,761
Which brings us to verse 12.

257
00:20:20,761 --> 00:20:22,243
God warns them.

258
00:20:22,283 --> 00:20:25,704
The wise men obey God rather than Herod.

259
00:20:25,785 --> 00:20:27,025
Why is this?

260
00:20:27,375 --> 00:20:30,306
I think it's because they were called wise men, right?

261
00:20:31,267 --> 00:20:43,991
You wouldn't be too wise if you gave up the vital information to your savior to a
maniacal, conniving, evil, murdering clown.

262
00:20:44,952 --> 00:20:48,213
Yes, exactly, they were wise men, very much so.

263
00:20:48,675 --> 00:20:50,539
So now we're going to move on to section three.

264
00:20:50,539 --> 00:20:55,632
This is verses 13 through 15 in a section I titled, The Flight into Egypt.

265
00:20:55,632 --> 00:20:59,725
All right, so let's go ahead and get Matthew chapter two, 13 through 15.

266
00:21:01,550 --> 00:21:02,728
Now when they had the

267
00:21:06,896 --> 00:21:11,620
Take the young child and his mother, flee to Egypt and stay there until I bring you word.

268
00:21:11,620 --> 00:21:14,541
For Herod will seek the young child to destroy him.

269
00:21:14,722 --> 00:21:24,949
When he arose, he took the young child and his mother by night and departed for Egypt and
was there until the death of Herod that it might be fulfilled, which was spoken by the

270
00:21:24,949 --> 00:21:29,372
Lord through the prophet saying, out of Egypt I called my son.

271
00:21:30,373 --> 00:21:34,556
All right, so God communicates through what medium?

272
00:21:37,136 --> 00:21:39,497
Through a dream, through an angel through a dream.

273
00:21:39,878 --> 00:21:41,719
Joseph is commanded to flee.

274
00:21:41,919 --> 00:21:42,260
Why?

275
00:21:42,260 --> 00:21:45,582
Because Herod's gonna seek the young child and seek to destroy him.

276
00:21:45,582 --> 00:21:48,284
There's his murderous intent unfolding already.

277
00:21:48,284 --> 00:21:49,425
He didn't want to worship him.

278
00:21:49,425 --> 00:21:51,166
He wanted to know where he was.

279
00:21:51,246 --> 00:21:52,707
And what does Joseph do?

280
00:21:52,707 --> 00:21:59,912
Now what was, does anyone remember the word that we used to uh describe Joseph last time
we studied?

281
00:22:01,782 --> 00:22:03,214
just obedient.

282
00:22:03,214 --> 00:22:07,820
Obedience was the word we chose, but just works and fits the blank just perfect.

283
00:22:07,820 --> 00:22:09,803
Alright, so Joseph obeys immediately.

284
00:22:09,803 --> 00:22:14,096
This is his third act of obedience that we see in only two chapters.

285
00:22:14,096 --> 00:22:16,476
Joseph was an absolutely stand-up guy.

286
00:22:16,676 --> 00:22:20,816
Now Herod's later cruelty historically was at the end of his life.

287
00:22:20,816 --> 00:22:29,676
We know Herod became more paranoid, more violent, more unstable, more ruthless, and this
fits Matthew's description perfectly.

288
00:22:29,676 --> 00:22:34,176
And this is just going through history books and things like that about Herod the Great.

289
00:22:34,176 --> 00:22:36,116
Not a pretty sight.

290
00:22:36,416 --> 00:22:39,440
But verse 15, have prophecy fulfilled.

291
00:22:39,440 --> 00:22:42,040
We have out of Egypt, have I called my son?

292
00:22:42,040 --> 00:22:44,500
This connects Jesus to Israel's history.

293
00:22:44,600 --> 00:22:48,580
He is the new Israel, the perfect son.

294
00:22:48,820 --> 00:22:50,900
So we have parallels there.

295
00:22:51,560 --> 00:22:53,240
Now we'll have section four.

296
00:22:53,240 --> 00:22:59,624
This is Rachel Weeps, Matthew chapter two, 16 through 18, if someone's willing to read
that.

297
00:23:05,456 --> 00:23:09,844
exceedingly angry and he sent forth and put to death all male children.

298
00:23:33,116 --> 00:23:39,736
All right, so someone go ahead and be turning over to Jeremiah 31 and verse 15 for me.

299
00:23:39,736 --> 00:23:41,236
Get ready to read that.

300
00:23:41,316 --> 00:23:44,936
What does Herod realize when we get to these verses?

301
00:23:45,116 --> 00:23:47,336
What's not coming back to him?

302
00:23:48,544 --> 00:23:50,646
The wise men are not returning.

303
00:23:50,727 --> 00:23:59,919
So a king with those kind of anger issues, we'll call them, he's going to fly into a rage.

304
00:23:59,919 --> 00:24:01,261
And we see that right here.

305
00:24:01,261 --> 00:24:07,038
He orders the slaughter of all male children two years and under in Bethlehem.

306
00:24:07,038 --> 00:24:12,452
So, this demographic that he chose was very specific to hunt Jesus down.

307
00:24:12,452 --> 00:24:17,735
This is because he didn't want to completely deplete the workforce of all male labor,
right?

308
00:24:17,735 --> 00:24:25,420
He wanted specifically to target Christ, and he knew that if he said two years and under,
he may be able to write it off, right?

309
00:24:25,481 --> 00:24:26,932
I'm not sure what his thinking would be.

310
00:24:26,932 --> 00:24:28,963
We can only assume here.

311
00:24:28,963 --> 00:24:33,086
But this atrocity fulfills Jeremiah 31 in verse 15.

312
00:24:33,086 --> 00:24:35,107
If someone will go ahead and read that now.

313
00:24:43,893 --> 00:24:45,155
moving forward children.

314
00:24:48,755 --> 00:24:52,616
Alright, so Rachel weeping for her children.

315
00:24:53,416 --> 00:24:56,957
She's almost symbolizing the mothers of Israel, right?

316
00:24:57,057 --> 00:25:01,538
Because when Herod sent out this order, do you think it got fulfilled?

317
00:25:02,439 --> 00:25:05,209
There were a lot of dead children there through Israel.

318
00:25:05,209 --> 00:25:05,980
Absolutely.

319
00:25:05,980 --> 00:25:13,502
This verse originally referred to the Babylonian captivity, but Matthew applies it to
Herod's massacre in this instance, right?

320
00:25:14,142 --> 00:25:18,283
So, what's the meaning of Rama or Rhema?

321
00:25:18,795 --> 00:25:19,876
Does anyone know?

322
00:25:21,300 --> 00:25:22,941
It means high place.

323
00:25:22,941 --> 00:25:24,242
So a high place.

324
00:25:24,242 --> 00:25:28,634
refers to a region approximately seven miles north of Bethlehem, right?

325
00:25:28,634 --> 00:25:32,636
ah This shows Matthew's careful historical accuracy as well.

326
00:25:32,636 --> 00:25:36,204
So he's also giving us the demographic location of where this is happening.

327
00:25:36,204 --> 00:25:37,138
It's very nice.

328
00:25:37,138 --> 00:25:40,839
It's very cool to be able to pinpoint that on the map and look around.

329
00:25:40,839 --> 00:25:46,212
But high place typically would be kind of like if you, uh our equivalent in the U.S.

330
00:25:46,212 --> 00:25:48,923
would be like going to Bandelier National Park.

331
00:25:48,923 --> 00:25:52,265
You had Bandelier National Park and up the steep grades.

332
00:25:52,265 --> 00:25:52,935
uh

333
00:25:52,935 --> 00:25:54,706
you'll have these dugouts.

334
00:25:54,706 --> 00:26:02,018
ah I can't remember what they're called right off the top of my head, but they're little
dugouts where they would have fires and things like that right on the side of the cliff

335
00:26:02,018 --> 00:26:02,648
faces.

336
00:26:02,648 --> 00:26:03,879
But they were high places.

337
00:26:03,879 --> 00:26:06,490
They were ramo where these cities were built up there.

338
00:26:06,490 --> 00:26:09,421
And if you go to Bandelier National Park today, you can actually see those.

339
00:26:09,421 --> 00:26:11,992
Those are our equivalent of what they found there.

340
00:26:11,992 --> 00:26:15,613
ah Section five, Jesus' hometown.

341
00:26:15,613 --> 00:26:19,434
This brings us to Matthew chapter two verses 19 through 23.

342
00:26:19,434 --> 00:26:21,935
I'll go ahead and read this one.

343
00:26:23,103 --> 00:26:33,408
But when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in
Egypt, saying, Arise, take the young child and his mother and go into the land of Israel.

344
00:26:33,408 --> 00:26:36,669
For they are dead which stopped the young child's life.

345
00:26:36,669 --> 00:26:42,032
And he arose and took the young child and his mother and came into the land of Israel.

346
00:26:42,032 --> 00:26:49,995
But when he had heard Archelaus did reign in Judea in the room of his father Herod, he was
afraid to go further.

347
00:26:50,127 --> 00:26:55,369
Notwithstanding being warned of God in a dream, he turned aside into the parts of Galilee.

348
00:26:55,369 --> 00:27:09,193
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." So here we have, Harry dies, he

349
00:27:09,193 --> 00:27:16,711
bites the dirt, game over, shouldn't have anybody chasing him anymore, so Joseph receives
another message.

350
00:27:16,711 --> 00:27:18,211
it's safe to return.

351
00:27:18,211 --> 00:27:21,051
Verse 22, we read about Archelaus.

352
00:27:21,631 --> 00:27:22,951
How do you want to pronounce it?

353
00:27:22,951 --> 00:27:25,691
Herod the Great changed his will before he died.

354
00:27:25,731 --> 00:27:31,391
So, if we look back, he removed Antipas and placed Archelaus over Judea instead.

355
00:27:31,451 --> 00:27:36,111
Archelaus was considered historically the worst son.

356
00:27:36,231 --> 00:27:41,951
He was violent, he was cruel, he was unstable, he was hated by the Jews.

357
00:27:41,971 --> 00:27:44,111
Did Joseph have every right to fear him?

358
00:27:45,222 --> 00:27:47,882
Yeah, he took after his dad.

359
00:27:47,882 --> 00:27:49,242
Of course he would.

360
00:27:49,762 --> 00:27:52,342
Yes, he trained him well, or trained him terribly.

361
00:27:52,782 --> 00:27:53,942
One of the two.

362
00:27:54,342 --> 00:27:56,982
So he fears him rightly, right?

363
00:27:56,982 --> 00:27:59,602
So God directs Joseph to Galilee.

364
00:27:59,602 --> 00:28:01,982
So verse 23, we see Nazareth.

365
00:28:01,982 --> 00:28:03,942
Joseph settling in Nazareth.

366
00:28:03,942 --> 00:28:09,722
Now the name Nazareth means shoot or could also be loosely translated branch.

367
00:28:09,722 --> 00:28:13,582
This connects Jesus to the prophecies of the branch.

368
00:28:13,894 --> 00:28:14,974
Let's see what I mean.

369
00:28:14,974 --> 00:28:21,886
Let's have someone turn over to Isaiah chapter 11 and verse 1 and read the prophecy that
Isaiah has.

370
00:28:27,526 --> 00:28:32,542
oh We can read about that historically, but it's not in the

371
00:28:35,078 --> 00:28:39,470
The shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse from his roots a branch.

372
00:28:41,156 --> 00:28:43,627
So there we go, the shoot or branch.

373
00:28:43,728 --> 00:28:46,009
Funny how that parallels with Nazareth.

374
00:28:46,050 --> 00:28:51,334
Now it's important to note that he is called a Nazarene, not a Nazarite.

375
00:28:51,334 --> 00:28:52,454
There's a difference here.

376
00:28:52,454 --> 00:28:55,096
A Nazarite would have taken a vow.

377
00:28:55,096 --> 00:28:59,299
Who else took a Nazarite vow that we read of in the Bible?

378
00:29:00,060 --> 00:29:04,803
Had jawbone of donkey, slew a bunch of people, really, really strong.

379
00:29:04,804 --> 00:29:05,314
Samson?

380
00:29:05,314 --> 00:29:06,184
Okay.

381
00:29:06,825 --> 00:29:08,426
A Nazarene.

382
00:29:08,752 --> 00:29:11,703
would have been someone born from Nazareth.

383
00:29:11,924 --> 00:29:13,635
So distinctions there are made.

384
00:29:13,635 --> 00:29:17,267
Nazarite and Nazarene, totally different things, sound very, very similar.

385
00:29:17,267 --> 00:29:27,013
ah Luke clarifies that Nazareth was Mary's hometown when we read Luke chapter 1, verses 26
through 27.

386
00:29:27,013 --> 00:29:28,774
And I'll go ahead and get that.

387
00:29:36,068 --> 00:29:47,137
And in the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee named
Nazareth to a virgin, a spouse to a man whose name was Joseph of the house of David, and

388
00:29:47,137 --> 00:29:53,192
the virgin's name Mary." So here we have the clarification of Mary's hometown.

389
00:29:53,893 --> 00:29:59,638
All right, so the major lesson in chapter two since we're at the end of it, Jesus' work
seeking, right?

390
00:29:59,674 --> 00:30:02,295
He's King, which is representative of the gold.

391
00:30:02,295 --> 00:30:05,076
He's God, representative of the frankincense.

392
00:30:05,076 --> 00:30:08,578
He is the savior, which is represented in the myrrh that was given to him.

393
00:30:08,578 --> 00:30:15,860
Herod shows fear, deception, rebellion, while the wise men show faith, humility, and
worship.

394
00:30:17,101 --> 00:30:22,423
Everyone in this chapter reacts to Jesus in some way, or form.

395
00:30:22,924 --> 00:30:26,925
Does everyone in the world react to Jesus in some way, shape, or form today?

396
00:30:28,506 --> 00:30:29,338
Yeah.

397
00:30:29,338 --> 00:30:34,534
They either reject him, ignoring something is still reacting to it.

398
00:30:34,677 --> 00:30:36,621
That is still a response.

399
00:30:38,606 --> 00:30:41,229
So I had a few discussion questions here.

400
00:30:41,229 --> 00:30:45,444
ah How is Herod different from the wise men?

401
00:30:48,998 --> 00:30:50,448
And don't say every way.

402
00:30:54,379 --> 00:30:58,149
He wanted to destroy Jesus while the wise men wanted to worship Christ, right?

403
00:30:59,938 --> 00:31:01,379
Alright.

404
00:31:01,379 --> 00:31:05,140
So Matthew chapter two is a book of contrast, or a chapter of contrasts.

405
00:31:05,140 --> 00:31:08,602
We have the wise men worshipping versus Herod Plot's murder.

406
00:31:08,602 --> 00:31:10,162
We have Joseph obeying.

407
00:31:10,162 --> 00:31:13,363
We have religious leaders remaining indifferent.

408
00:31:13,404 --> 00:31:15,624
We have a star leaders seek.

409
00:31:16,205 --> 00:31:18,506
And then we have a prophecy that condemns the wicked.

410
00:31:18,506 --> 00:31:20,246
We have innocent children dying.

411
00:31:20,246 --> 00:31:22,187
We have the true king surviving.

412
00:31:22,187 --> 00:31:24,728
We have Jesus beginning his earthly life in danger.

413
00:31:24,728 --> 00:31:27,309
And yet, he fulfills every prophecy.

414
00:31:27,309 --> 00:31:29,290
So lots of contrasts there.

415
00:31:30,016 --> 00:31:32,969
So now let's go ahead and move on to chapter three.

416
00:31:32,969 --> 00:31:34,311
I'm glad we actually have time for this.

417
00:31:34,311 --> 00:31:42,539
ah The theme of the chapter I wrote down above the section header was preparing the way
for the king.

418
00:31:43,001 --> 00:31:43,961
All right?

419
00:31:45,396 --> 00:31:50,370
So Matthew chapter three marks a major turning point in the gospel.

420
00:31:50,370 --> 00:32:01,800
Chapter one and two focuses on Jesus's identity, his early life, fleeing into Egypt and so
forth, his lineage, his birth, the reactions of the wise men and God's protection over him

421
00:32:01,800 --> 00:32:02,540
as a child.

422
00:32:02,540 --> 00:32:07,645
Now Matthew moves us forward in the beginning of Jesus's public ministry in chapter three.

423
00:32:07,645 --> 00:32:12,748
But before Jesus steps onto the public stage, God sends a messenger ahead of him.

424
00:32:12,806 --> 00:32:13,810
Does anybody know who that is?

425
00:32:13,810 --> 00:32:14,810
m

426
00:32:14,954 --> 00:32:17,016
John, John the Baptist.

427
00:32:17,257 --> 00:32:19,999
This chapter answers a very important question.

428
00:32:20,040 --> 00:32:23,363
How does God prepare people to receive the King?

429
00:32:23,423 --> 00:32:24,124
Right?

430
00:32:24,124 --> 00:32:25,745
The answer is not miracles.

431
00:32:25,886 --> 00:32:27,567
The answer is not signs.

432
00:32:27,708 --> 00:32:29,389
It's not popularity.

433
00:32:30,191 --> 00:32:31,952
What was John's message?

434
00:32:32,333 --> 00:32:33,474
Repent.

435
00:32:34,068 --> 00:32:35,759
Repentance is how.

436
00:32:35,759 --> 00:32:45,693
So Matthew chapter three shows us that God prepares hearts before he reveals his son,
before Jesus begins teaching, before he begins healing, before he begins calling the

437
00:32:45,693 --> 00:32:51,966
apostles, a voice, as it says, crying out in the wilderness, right?

438
00:32:51,966 --> 00:32:53,646
Calling people to change.

439
00:32:53,747 --> 00:32:56,548
So the roadmap, section roadmap, you know, I like to do these.

440
00:32:56,548 --> 00:33:01,790
ah Matthew chapter two, three, it's a night.

441
00:33:02,206 --> 00:33:05,027
is going to be divided into four different sections.

442
00:33:05,027 --> 00:33:08,608
Section number one is going to be verses one through six.

443
00:33:08,608 --> 00:33:11,769
This is the messenger in the wilderness.

444
00:33:12,109 --> 00:33:15,170
Section number two will be verses seven through ten.

445
00:33:15,170 --> 00:33:19,311
This we marked as the message of repentance.

446
00:33:20,031 --> 00:33:23,012
Section number three will be verses 11 through 12.

447
00:33:23,012 --> 00:33:31,114
That's the messenger's authority, because it doesn't matter what the message is if your
messenger has no authority to get it, right?

448
00:33:31,286 --> 00:33:33,927
He's got to have authority to back up what he's saying.

449
00:33:34,488 --> 00:33:41,533
Then the last section, section four, is going to be verses 13 through 14, which is a
message from the Father.

450
00:33:41,533 --> 00:33:42,754
Jesus is baptized.

451
00:33:42,754 --> 00:33:44,795
God publicly announces His Son.

452
00:33:44,795 --> 00:33:51,839
Each section prepares the way for Christ and builds towards His public identification as
the Messiah.

453
00:33:52,881 --> 00:33:54,181
Here they announce it.

454
00:33:54,382 --> 00:33:57,273
So section one, the messenger in the wilderness.

455
00:33:57,273 --> 00:34:01,346
Do we have someone who's willing to read verses one through six?

456
00:34:05,736 --> 00:34:13,305
those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea and saying, repent
for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

457
00:34:13,640 --> 00:34:23,574
For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, saying, the voice of one crying in
the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord, make his path straight.

458
00:34:23,574 --> 00:34:31,137
Now John himself was clothed in camel's hair with a leather belt around his waist, and his
food was locust and wild honey.

459
00:34:31,157 --> 00:34:39,300
Then Jerusalem, all Judea, and all the region around the Jordan went out to him and were
baptized by him and the Jordan confessing their sins.

460
00:34:39,400 --> 00:34:41,241
All right, now I you to notice.

461
00:34:42,765 --> 00:34:45,507
Malchizedek, how did he appear in the Bible?

462
00:34:46,428 --> 00:34:48,069
Suddenly, right?

463
00:34:48,069 --> 00:34:51,832
Do we have the same thing happening with John the Baptist here being introduced suddenly?

464
00:34:51,912 --> 00:34:57,677
Again, no genealogy, no birth story, no background given.

465
00:34:57,677 --> 00:35:01,250
John simply, as it were, preaching in the wilderness.

466
00:35:01,250 --> 00:35:02,801
Doesn't mean he just...

467
00:35:03,207 --> 00:35:05,928
miraculously appeared there and there we have John.

468
00:35:05,928 --> 00:35:10,440
It's not how that worked, but this sudden appearance I think is intentional.

469
00:35:10,440 --> 00:35:16,261
Matthew expects his Jewish readers to recognize that John is the fulfillment of prophecy.

470
00:35:16,262 --> 00:35:17,662
Now which prophecy?

471
00:35:17,662 --> 00:35:25,945
Let's have someone get Isaiah 40 and verse 3 and someone else look up Malachi 3 and verse
1 for me.

472
00:35:30,781 --> 00:35:36,601
Isaiah 40 in verse 3 and Malachi 3 in verse 1.

473
00:35:46,749 --> 00:35:48,915
All right, and Malachi 3.1.

474
00:35:51,035 --> 00:35:54,946
Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me.

475
00:35:54,946 --> 00:36:01,708
And the Lord whom ye seek shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the
covenant whom ye delight in.

476
00:36:01,708 --> 00:36:07,785
Behold, he shall come, saith the Lord of hosts." Okay, so we see the fulfillment of
prophecy in both these verses.

477
00:36:07,785 --> 00:36:12,872
If we're told a messenger who would come before the Messiah to prepare his way, right?

478
00:36:12,872 --> 00:36:14,973
John's called the Baptist.

479
00:36:15,373 --> 00:36:16,253
Why?

480
00:36:18,845 --> 00:36:19,625
because baptized.

481
00:36:19,625 --> 00:36:23,017
Baptism was a crucial part of his ministry, right?

482
00:36:23,017 --> 00:36:25,728
It was the central part of all of it, right?

483
00:36:27,189 --> 00:36:29,430
But he's not starting a new religion, is he?

484
00:36:29,450 --> 00:36:31,951
He didn't just come up with the concept of baptism.

485
00:36:31,951 --> 00:36:35,773
He's preparing people for the arrival of the King.

486
00:36:35,835 --> 00:36:38,287
He's getting them ready for this and the ideas.

487
00:36:38,287 --> 00:36:43,132
So verse two, this would be the key verse here, the memory verse if you wanted to memorize
one.

488
00:36:43,132 --> 00:36:44,153
This is the message.

489
00:36:44,153 --> 00:36:50,258
John's message is short, it's direct, it's strong, it's powerful, it's meaningful.

490
00:36:50,379 --> 00:36:57,045
Repent ye for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

491
00:36:59,077 --> 00:37:02,202
What to the word repent, what does it entail?

492
00:37:02,202 --> 00:37:04,344
Does it just mean being sorry for something?

493
00:37:05,307 --> 00:37:10,333
You can be sorry that you did something, and then there's also being sorry you got caught
for doing something, right?

494
00:37:10,454 --> 00:37:12,397
Which sorry is it?

495
00:37:12,518 --> 00:37:15,100
It's sorry that you did the thing.

496
00:37:15,609 --> 00:37:24,009
Repentance in and of itself shows us a change of mind, a turning of direction, turning
your back on that thing you used to do and becoming a new person.

497
00:37:24,009 --> 00:37:26,109
You can change overnight.

498
00:37:26,269 --> 00:37:29,949
Unfortunately, people's view of you will not change overnight.

499
00:37:29,949 --> 00:37:31,369
It takes time.

500
00:37:31,689 --> 00:37:34,689
But we also see a rejection of sin in the idea of repentance.

501
00:37:34,689 --> 00:37:37,069
We see a realignment with God.

502
00:37:37,069 --> 00:37:38,529
It's like getting your tires realigned.

503
00:37:38,529 --> 00:37:40,549
You don't want to keep pulling you to the left.

504
00:37:40,549 --> 00:37:45,162
You want to get realigned so you go straight down the road when you let go of the steering
wheel.

505
00:37:45,162 --> 00:37:46,602
check your phone right?

506
00:37:47,203 --> 00:37:51,965
No, don't do that.

507
00:37:51,965 --> 00:37:56,122
The kingdom of heaven refers to God's rule and reign.

508
00:37:56,122 --> 00:37:57,787
It's not talking about an earthly kingdom.

509
00:37:57,787 --> 00:38:02,689
John is announcing God's kingdom is near because the king himself is near, right?

510
00:38:02,689 --> 00:38:11,012
This verse sets the tone for the entire chapter because Christ can be received and if he's
going to be received hearts are gonna have to be what?

511
00:38:11,012 --> 00:38:12,072
Changed?

512
00:38:12,246 --> 00:38:12,836
Right?

513
00:38:12,836 --> 00:38:14,057
Absolutely.

514
00:38:14,057 --> 00:38:16,446
So let's look again at verses 3 through 4.

515
00:38:16,446 --> 00:38:18,198
We have the voice and the lifestyle.

516
00:38:18,198 --> 00:38:22,697
Matthew identifies John as the fulfillment of Isaiah 40 in verse 3.

517
00:38:22,697 --> 00:38:26,780
The voice of one crying in the wilderness, prepare ye the way of the Lord.

518
00:38:26,860 --> 00:38:30,421
John preaches in the wilderness, away from comfort.

519
00:38:30,701 --> 00:38:35,702
He prepares people in places of discomfort and simplicity, doesn't he?

520
00:38:36,163 --> 00:38:41,244
He's not going to the square downtown and sitting at a coffee shop.

521
00:38:41,452 --> 00:38:45,374
He's out there surviving off what two foods?

522
00:38:45,374 --> 00:38:46,475
Locusts.

523
00:38:46,475 --> 00:38:48,036
Locusts and honey.

524
00:38:48,036 --> 00:38:50,757
A regional delicacy, if you didn't know.

525
00:38:51,158 --> 00:38:54,600
If you haven't tried it, I'm not going to say try, don't.

526
00:38:55,441 --> 00:39:00,393
But we see a camel's hair garment, we see a leather belt, and we see locusts and wild
honey.

527
00:39:00,393 --> 00:39:02,645
He was not dressed to impress.

528
00:39:02,645 --> 00:39:04,706
He was dressed for survival.

529
00:39:05,046 --> 00:39:07,668
John's diet of locusts and wild honey.

530
00:39:08,216 --> 00:39:14,516
wild honey was not strange, but specifically it wasn't sinful to Jewish culture.

531
00:39:15,136 --> 00:39:18,976
Locusts were considered clean food under the law of Moses.

532
00:39:19,176 --> 00:39:25,095
Let's have someone get Leviticus chapter 11 and we'll read verses 21 through 22.

533
00:39:25,116 --> 00:39:31,916
We're going to take a look back at what the law of Moses specifically says about eating
locusts.

534
00:39:31,916 --> 00:39:35,556
Because these were something that would commonly be eaten by poor people.

535
00:39:35,556 --> 00:39:38,116
The rich kings weren't eating locusts.

536
00:39:38,392 --> 00:39:39,716
Alright, let's go ahead.

537
00:39:42,936 --> 00:39:51,456
Yet these may ye eat of every flying creeping thing that goeth upon all four which have
legs above their feet to leap with full upon the earth.

538
00:39:51,456 --> 00:40:00,756
Even these of them ye may eat, the locust after his kind, and the bald locust after his
kind, and the beetle after his kind, and the grasshopper after his kind.

539
00:40:00,776 --> 00:40:01,796
Yummy.

540
00:40:02,036 --> 00:40:02,776
Amen.

541
00:40:02,776 --> 00:40:03,696
Right.

542
00:40:03,836 --> 00:40:09,036
So these things would have been high in protein, but specifically these things would have
been easy for him to find, right?

543
00:40:09,036 --> 00:40:09,816
The locusts.

544
00:40:09,816 --> 00:40:11,696
Remember, we're in a desert region.

545
00:40:11,876 --> 00:40:12,960
Locusts are very prevalent.

546
00:40:12,960 --> 00:40:13,701
desert regions.

547
00:40:13,701 --> 00:40:14,952
They're all over the place.

548
00:40:14,952 --> 00:40:18,495
So it would have made very practical survival food for him.

549
00:40:18,495 --> 00:40:21,667
Wild honey would have been honey gathered on the ground.

550
00:40:21,667 --> 00:40:24,479
It wouldn't have been processed like we typically do today.

551
00:40:24,479 --> 00:40:26,861
This would be gathered from natural hives and rocks.

552
00:40:26,861 --> 00:40:28,742
It could be found in trees.

553
00:40:28,903 --> 00:40:30,604
It was not processed or farmed.

554
00:40:30,604 --> 00:40:33,637
It was a simple provision from the wilderness.

555
00:40:33,637 --> 00:40:36,649
You can see videos of people doing this today even.

556
00:40:36,649 --> 00:40:40,659
Together, locust and honey would form a very basic diet.

557
00:40:40,659 --> 00:40:41,590
But it'd be a healthy one.

558
00:40:41,590 --> 00:40:43,094
It would keep you sustained well.

559
00:40:43,094 --> 00:40:45,719
Honey has lots of antioxidants and things.

560
00:40:45,720 --> 00:40:47,724
When I was taking, I used to take...

561
00:40:47,724 --> 00:40:48,437
uh

562
00:40:48,437 --> 00:40:49,497
Allergy shots.

563
00:40:49,497 --> 00:40:59,217
And they said if you took a spoonful, a tablespoon of local honey to your area, because it
contains all the pollen from that area, it is about the same, now this was just a

564
00:40:59,217 --> 00:41:08,837
comparison, this is not medical advice, but it would be about the same as getting an
allergy shot once a month if you took a spoonful of it every single day.

565
00:41:08,837 --> 00:41:12,977
Because you're making your body acclimate to ingesting that.

566
00:41:12,977 --> 00:41:14,497
So it learns how to fight.

567
00:41:15,048 --> 00:41:20,951
But this diet specifically showed that John lived simply and dependently on God.

568
00:41:20,951 --> 00:41:23,152
He wasn't driven by comfort or luxury.

569
00:41:23,152 --> 00:41:26,874
This is a lifestyle that matched his message of repentance.

570
00:41:27,775 --> 00:41:31,876
If you're living a repentant lifestyle, that's not one of comfort.

571
00:41:32,117 --> 00:41:35,228
It's not one of instant gratification.

572
00:41:35,228 --> 00:41:37,149
It's one of obedience.

573
00:41:37,149 --> 00:41:38,740
It's one of discipline.

574
00:41:39,120 --> 00:41:46,902
Like Old Testament prophets, especially Elijah, John's simple life reinforced his role as
a messenger preparing the way for the Lord.

575
00:41:47,303 --> 00:41:49,753
So we move on to verses five through six.

576
00:41:49,753 --> 00:41:53,565
I don't think I'll get to section two, but we'll finish section one here.

577
00:41:53,565 --> 00:41:56,085
Verses five through six, we see the response.

578
00:41:56,085 --> 00:41:59,983
People come from Jerusalem, Judea, all the region of Jordan.

579
00:41:59,983 --> 00:42:01,017
They're coming from all over.

580
00:42:01,017 --> 00:42:03,568
They confess their sins and they're baptized.

581
00:42:03,568 --> 00:42:05,358
This baptism, however,

582
00:42:05,358 --> 00:42:06,549
not salvation.

583
00:42:06,549 --> 00:42:12,044
It was public acknowledgement of repentance and readiness for the Messiah." Right?

584
00:42:12,044 --> 00:42:15,697
There's a difference between John's baptism and the baptism Christ enacted.

585
00:42:15,697 --> 00:42:24,764
So, God's preparing hearts for what comes next, and hopefully I'll get a chance to
continue this and you'll get to see what comes next in the next class period.

586
00:42:25,505 --> 00:42:31,330
So, does anyone have any last-minute questions before we close since we're running down on
two minutes?

587
00:42:33,908 --> 00:42:39,468
It says people went out to him from all of your, all of you did, the whole region of the
majority.

588
00:42:39,948 --> 00:42:42,048
You know, must have been a lot of people.

589
00:42:42,048 --> 00:42:43,328
A lot of people.

590
00:42:43,348 --> 00:42:44,448
A lot of people.

591
00:42:44,448 --> 00:42:45,868
But at the top of the town.

592
00:42:50,582 --> 00:42:56,987
It shows the prevailing power of word of mouth, doesn't it?

593
00:42:57,208 --> 00:43:06,195
And yet God says that it's pleasing unto him to save souls by the, pay attention what he
calls it, the foolishness of preaching.

594
00:43:06,656 --> 00:43:12,290
Because God can take something utterly foolish and make it incredible by the might of His
power.

595
00:43:12,290 --> 00:43:16,323
His power is seen most prevalently in weakness.

596
00:43:17,242 --> 00:43:17,805
Wonderful.

597
00:43:17,805 --> 00:43:20,916
So thank you all very much for your attention this evening.