God’s Sovereign Protection and Provision
The past three Sundays we have studied some of prophecies, events, and people surrounding the Holy Conception of Mary, the Divine Birth of God’s Son, and the Incarnation of Jesus Christ! Today I’m going unwrap some events and expose some characters we haven’t as yet looked at.
vv. 1-6... Some Magi (learned men who studied the heavens) came from the East (Persia - Iran), in order to find, honor, and worship the newborn King of the Jews. They most likely had servants and soldiers traveling with them, and they appeared as royalty and noblemen.
They had followed a star to Jerusalem (1000 miles) and were now asking everyone about the birth of the King of the Jews. This troubled Herod (named King of the Jews, by Julius Caesar), so he called for his theologians to find out what the Prophets had written (Micah 5:2), “Out of you [Bethlehem] will come one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times."
Vv. 7-12... Herod calls the Magi to find out when this "star" appeared; he then sends them to Bethlehem to look for the King of the Jews (who is now a "child," no longer an infant). Herod says he wants to find this child (v. 8), so that “[he] too may go and worship Him."
The Magi then go to Bethlehem, following the star, which came to rest over a house where Joseph, Mary, and the Child Jesus were waiting for traveling instructions from God, in order to know where and when to go.
The Magi present magnificent gifts to the child Jesus:
Gold - A precious metal associated with royalty, it speaks of Christ as King of Kings.
Frankincense - An expensive incense made from tree resin (used in the Tent of Meeting, where the LORD would meet with His people), it speaks of Christ as Lord of Lords.
Myrrh - A valuable aromatic gum resin, used as a spice or medicine, often used to prepare bodies for burial; it, speaks of Christ as the suffering Servant Savior.
The Magi worshipped Jesus, bringing gifts to honor Him as King of Kings, Lord of Lords, and the Savior who came to die and set us free from sin's penalty.
The Magi were warned in a dream (v. 12), and so they did not report to Herod, but returned home another way.
vv. 13-18... Joseph is now warned in a dream to take Jesus and Mary and go to Egypt until Herod is dead, for Herod exhibits the depth of the evil in his heart, as he orders the murder of all male infants, toddlers and children, who appear to be around two years of age and younger, in an attempt to destroy the Christ child who had been born (v. 18, cf. Jeremiah 31:15) "A voice is heard in Ramah, mourning and great weeping, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because her children are no more."
Ramah is a town about 5 miles north of Jerusalem where Jewish captives during the time of Jeremiah were gathered together for deportation to Babylon, children separated from their parents, were never seen again.
Rachel was the wife of Jacob [Israel], she wept as her children [the Israelites] were taken away from their mothers and sent to foreign lands during the time of Jeremiah.
Now, with the coming of the Messiah, God’s Son, the mothers in and around Bethlehem would weep bitterly, for Herod would savagely massacre their children.
Herod (v. 16) was enraged, physically shaken, so full of anger that he set himself against God, knowing full well the identity of the Child he was trying to kill (v. 4, the Messiah, God's Son), the future Ruler of Israel.
God not only protected His Son by sending Him out of Israel into Egypt before Herod could find Him, but also by providing resources (gold, frankincense, and myrrh) so that Joseph and Mary could care for Him in Egypt.
vv. 19-23... Herod tried to kill Jesus, then he died a horrible death, as Josephus (Antiquities of the Jews) writes, he had ”ulcerated entrails, maggot-filled organs, convulsions in all parts of his body, and foul breath." After Herod died, God told Joseph to return to Israel. In Hosea 11:1, God says, “out of Egypt I called my Son.”
Herod had three living sons (he had killed two sons, his wife, other relatives - anyone who became popular): Archelaus (Ar-khel’-ah-os) ruled Judea & Samaria; Antipas (An- tee’-pas) ruled Galilee (he beheaded John); and Philip II ruled north of Galilee (his wife, Herodias, committed adultery with Antipas).
Archelaus hated Jews as much, if not more than He his father; in fact, one Passover he had 3000 Jews executed. It is no wonder that Joseph (v. 22) was warned in a dream, not to go to Judea (ruled by Archelaus); but instead to take Mary and Jesus and go to Nazareth in Galilee, about 65 miles north of Jerusalem.
Nazareth was considered a despised place by most Jews, who used the term "Nazarene" in order to express contempt or disdain. Speaking of Christ (Isaiah 53:3), “He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.”
Three days ago many of the world's people celebrated Christmas, in honor of Jesus, at the same time, most of the world's inhabitants celebrated Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, or simply the Winter Holiday, giving no attention to the Christ of Christmas, but then, they are also indifferent toward the Cross of Christ.
The birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus all declare Him to be the Lord and Savior of all who believe in Him; but these also declare Him to be the Judge and Executioner of all who reject Him.
John 3:16-18, "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son.”
36, “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him."
God wants us to know and to believe in His Son.
1Timothy 2:3-4, “This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.”
John 14:6, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
God protected and provided for His own Son when Herod sought to kill Him, and God will provide for and protect all who belong to Him, now and forever.
John 1:12-13, “Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God-- children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God.”
John 14:1-3, 1 "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.”
2Peter 1:3, His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.”
Philippians 4:13, “I can do everything through him who gives me strength.”
19, “my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.”
If you have not confessed your sins and trusted in Jesus Christ to forgive you, believing in Him as Savior, do it right now; there is simply no good reason not to.
I urge you (2Corinthians 5:20) to, “Be reconciled to God.” Don’t go another day without the protection and provision of God as your Heavenly and Eternal Father.
Do NOT enter 2015 without the Provision and Protection that comes through God’s Son, Jesus Christ, Savior and Lord!
Romans 10:9-10, “That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.” 13, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”