We have just gone through the last holiday season of this creation. Many of us, from our youth, have had Matthew 2 read to us countless times at Christmas; but now that God is opening up His Word and opening up our minds to “time and judgment,” because the Bible is a living Book, we are seeing even more things. In passages that we have heard for many years, we are seeing even more things that assure us that we are on the right track; and so I would just like to read Matthew 2. We will pay particular attention to verse 15.
We read in Matthew 2:1-23:
Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him. When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born. And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judaea: for thus it is written by the prophet, And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel. Then Herod, when he had privily called the wise men, inquired of them diligently what time the star appeared. And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said, Go and search diligently for the young child; and when ye have found him, bring me word again, that I may come and worship him also. When they had heard the king, they departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy. And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh. And being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way. And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him. When he arose, he took the young child and his mother by night, and departed into Egypt: And was there until the death of Herod: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I called my son. Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently inquired of the wise men. Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet, saying, In Rama was there a voice heard, lamentation, and weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not. But when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeareth in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, Saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and go into the land of Israel: for they are dead which sought the young child’s life. And he arose, and took the young child and his mother, and came into the land of Israel. But when he heard that Archelaus did reign in Judaea in the room of his father Herod, he was afraid to go thither: notwithstanding, being warned of God in a dream, he turned aside into the parts of Galilee: 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.
God has written the whole Bible in parables. We understand now that Christ’s life on this earth was a demonstration. His whole life was a sign.
We know that the Bible says, “For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” Right from the beginning of His life on this earth, from what we read about Christ in the Gospels, as well as throughout the rest of the Bible, it was all demonstrations, pictures, metaphors, parables and allegories.
Speaking of Joseph and his family, we read again in Matthew 2:14-15:
When he arose, he took the young child and his mother by night, and departed into Egypt: And was there until the death of Herod: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I called my son.
For anyone who is a child of God, you have been brought “out of Egypt”; and so we have to understand how God uses “Egypt” in the Bible. He uses it as a picture of the world, but He also uses it as being under the wrath of God and in bondage to sin, before salvation.
Turn to Exodus 20. In this chapter, we have the Ten Commandments. This is right before He gives the Ten Commandments. Exodus 20:1-2 says:
And God spake all these words, saying, I am JEHOVAH thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
Then He begins to give them the Ten Commandments, which are a representation of the whole Law of God. But over and over again in the Old Testament, God speaks of Egypt as “the house of bondage” or “the iron furnace,” which, again, is a representation of being under the wrath of God and in bondage to sin and Satan.
Look at Deuteronomy 6. In Deuteronomy 6:20-23, we read:
And when thy son asketh thee in time to come, saying, What mean the testimonies, and the statutes, and the judgments, which JEHOVAH our God hath commanded you? Then thou shalt say unto thy son, We were Pharaoh’s bondmen in Egypt; and JEHOVAH brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand: And JEHOVAH showed signs and wonders, great and sore, upon Egypt, upon Pharaoh, and upon all his household, before our eyes: And he brought us out from thence, that he might bring us in, to give us the land which he sware unto our fathers.
We can see how this is a picture. He brought us “out of Egypt,” out from under the wrath of God, out from under the bondage to sin, that He might “bring us in,” into that Promised Land, the land of Canaan, which represented the Kingdom of God.
So Deuteronomy 6:23-25 says:
And he brought us out from thence, that he might bring us in, to give us the land which he sware unto our fathers. And JEHOVAH commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear JEHOVAH our God, for our good always, that he might preserve us alive, as it is at this day. And it shall be our righteousness, if we observe to do all these commandments before JEHOVAH our God, as he hath commanded us.
Another passage to look at is in Numbers 27. God is telling Moses here that he is not going to enter the Promised Land. We read in Numbers 27:12-17:
And JEHOVAH said unto Moses, Get thee up into this mount Abarim, and see the land which I have given unto the children of Israel. And when thou hast seen it, thou also shalt be gathered unto thy people, as Aaron thy brother was gathered. For ye rebelled against my commandment in the desert of Zin, in the strife of the congregation, to sanctify me at the water before their eyes: that is the water of Meribah in Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin. And Moses spake unto JEHOVAH, saying, Let JEHOVAH, the God of the spirits of all flesh, set a man over the congregation, Which may go out before them, and which may go in before them, and which may lead them out, and which may bring them in; that the congregation of JEHOVAH be not as sheep which have no shepherd.
In one sense, Moses was a picture of Christ. Moses was a representation of the Law and he was used of God to bring the Israelites out of Egypt, which was a picture of all of us being brought out from under the wrath of God, to be brought out from under the bondage to sin, a picture of salvation; and the Israelites were a representation of God’s people, even though we know that most of them were not saved at the time that they came out of the wilderness.
So He did not allow Moses to go into the Promised Land, and I believe that the picture that we are to see is that Moses was a picture of the Law and that our keeping of the Law cannot bring us into salvation. Then He used Joshua who won great battles for them when they came into that land of Canaan; and Joshua, in another sense, was a picture of Christ, the Great Victor, as they conquered all of those heathen nations in the land of Canaan. The principle is that this leader, who was a representation of Christ, goes out before them to bring them out and then leads them in.
I believe that this is what we are seeing here in Matthew 2:15 where we read a quotation that is actually from Hosea 11. In most of the book of Hosea, God is rebuking Israel, the northern tribes, because of their apostasy and their falling away. In Hosea, as in most of the books of the prophets, He recounts for them what He has done for them, how He had brought them out of Egypt and worked all of those great wonders before Pharaoh, and how they continued to rebel against Him and remained stiff-necked. But He says in Hosea 11:1:
When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt.
So this was a picture of salvation and we are reading here in Matthew 2 that the first thing that happened with Christ, outside of being circumcised eight days after His birth, was that He went down into Egypt. At the beginning of His life, this is a picture of Him being under the wrath of God. We will look at this a little more later.
We know that Christ was born in 7 B.C. In Luke 2:1-3, we read:
And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed. (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.) And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city.
The history is murky. The historians, in some cases, contradict each other. This man Cyrenius was definitely governor of Syria in A.D., in the early years of the first century, but you can read in different commentaries and writings by historians that there was a time around 6, 7, or 8 B.C. when there was another order from Syria that their kingdom was to be enrolled for the purpose of taxing. At that time, Cyrenius had a position. This was why he had as much power as the governor, so we believe that this is what was happening here. According to the historians, this enrollment or census was anywhere from 6 to 8 B.C.
So we read this word “taxed” in Luke 2:1-3. It says in Luke 2:1:
And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed.
Then it says in Luke 2:2:
(And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.)
And in Luke 2:3, it says:
And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city.
This is the Greek word apographo. We can see the word “graph” in this, which has to do with writing, but this was not a good translation of this word. They should have translated this as “written,” which they did in Hebrews 12:23, because that is the sense of this word. It was a census for the purpose of taxing, but there is a spiritual sense here. All of the Israelites came back into their city of origin to be written into the city, which was a picture of being gathered unto God.
Let us look at Hebrews 12. We find this same word in this chapter. We read in Hebrews 12:22:
But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels,
So this is the principle. Then we read in Hebrews 12:23:
To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written…
This is the same word. It continues:
…which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect,
This is the word that was translated as “taxed/taxing.”
Again, the principle here is that Christ, at the beginning of His life on this earth, went into Egypt. He began by coming under the wrath of God. The principle here is what we have learned about the atonement taking place before the foundations of the world. One of the first verses that we looked at was Romans 1:4. Romans 1:3-4 says:
Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh; And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead:
It was as if He had a beginning. It was as if He had a birth. But He did not. He is God the Father, but He became the Son “by the resurrection from the dead.” It was as if there was a beginning for Him and we see Him going into Egypt from the beginning of His time on earth. Again, this was a figure or a parable.
We spoke about His birth. Mr. Camping has very carefully worked back from the time that Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist, ministered in the temple by his course. We know when Zacharias’ course would have been for him to minister in the temple. We know that John the Baptist was six months older than Christ. We cannot say exactly, but Mr. Camping put Christ’s birth very close to the Day of Atonement.
Again, this would figure in spiritually, because the first thing is that Christ was under the wrath of God. This is what the Day of Atonement pictured. It was one day each year when the high priest went into the Holy of Holies, which was a picture of Christ in the atonement going in and appearing before God. This, again, fits in with everything relating to Christ’s birth.
Let us look at Colossians 2:9, because this is a very important principle. The Bible teaches us that if you are a child of God, you went through this atonement with Christ. This is just an incomprehensible idea, but the Bible tells us this. Colossians 2:9 is speaking of Christ and it says:
For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.
He was manifested as a man with a body.
Then Colossians 2:10-11 says:
And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power: In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ:
This is something else that points to what we have been saying. Circumcision has to do with the atonement. It pointed to the shedding of blood, as well as to the seed.
Let us continue on in this passage. We go on to read of God’s children in Colossians 2:12-14 who are:
Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead. And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses; Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;
We now know that the cross symbolizes being under the curse of God. This clears up those verses that speak about Christ on the cross, because it was a demonstration in 33 A.D.
Another thing we know is that Jacob was a very prominent figure of Christ in the Bible, because he was the father of the twelve tribes of Israel. Jacob was born in 2007 B.C. We also know that David, who was another prominent figure of Christ in the Bible, ascended the throne and became king of Israel in 1007 B.C.
Do you not think that God would have arranged things so that Christ would have come into this world in 7 B.C.? Again, David ascended the throne in 1007 B.C. There is no year zero; so from 1007 B.C. to 1994 is exactly 3,000 years; and, lo and behold, the Israelites observed this in 1994. There was a celebration and a memorial in Jerusalem where they marked the 3,000th year of David’s ascension to the throne. This just all comes together.
One more thing is that 7 B.C. was a Jubilee year, which is just more evidence that Christ was born in 7 B.C. When the Israelites came into the Promised Land after their forty-year sojourn in the wilderness, that was their first Jubilee year. One significance of this was the sending forth of the Gospel into the world. They were to observe a Jubilee year every fifty years. They would have seven Sabbath years. Seven times seven is forty-nine. The fiftieth year would be a Jubilee year. Again, 7 B.C. was a Jubilee year.
We have looked at all kinds of verses since we began to be taught that the atonement took place before the creation, like Psalm 74:2. This says:
Remember thy congregation, which thou hast purchased of old; the rod of thine inheritance, which thou hast redeemed; this mount Zion, wherein thou hast dwelt.
We have since discovered many verses and passages like this that teach us that the atonement was before the foundations of the world.
Robert read Proverbs 8 this morning. Let us look at this. Proverbs 8 is “wisdom” speaking in the first person. From 1 Corinthians 1:24, we know that Christ is the “wisdom of God.” Christ is God’s wisdom manifested as a man. Look at what “wisdom” says here starting in Proverbs 8:20-21:
I lead in the way of righteousness, in the midst of the paths of judgment: That I may cause those that love me to inherit substance…
This is speaking about salvation. It continues:
…and I will fill their treasures.
Now look at this. It says in Proverbs 8:22-27:
JEHOVAH possessed me in the beginning of his way, before his works of old. I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth was. When there were no depths, I was brought forth; when there were no fountains abounding with water. Before the mountains were settled, before the hills was I brought forth: While as yet he had not made the earth, nor the fields, nor the highest part of the dust of the world. When he prepared the heavens, I was there: when he set a compass upon the face of the depth:
If you look at the words for “brought forth,” they are both the same word. They are one Hebrew word that means “travailed,” as in birth. This phrase is used in the Bible to represent the pain of being under the wrath of God, which is another study.
Again, this is just looking at how God is just assuring us that we are on the right track and that the atonement was made before the foundations of the world. We are just seeing this more and more.
So for those of us who are older, this is a passage that we have listened to as the Christmas story over and over again for years, and yet we still see new things in this as God continues to show us that this is a living Book.
There is one more thing that I would like to look at concerning Christ’s age. Theologians have less trouble with the crucifixion. They pretty much agree and cannot argue over the fact that the crucifixion had to have taken place in 33 A.D. This is because in 33 A.D., Nisan 14, which was the Passover day, fell on a Friday. For a couple of years in either direction, it had not fallen on a Friday; but we know from the Bible that His crucifixion had to have fallen on a Friday. He was crucified on the Passover day, the day that began on Thursday evening and went until Friday evening. This is how He could eat the Passover meal with His apostles on Thursday evening and still be on the cross the next morning. It was still the Passover day.
Then we read in the Gospel of John that they had to get him down off the cross before the end of the day; because on sundown on that Friday, it became the seventh day. Saturday, the seventh day, was from sundown on Friday to sundown on Saturday. They had to get Him off the cross because it was the Sabbath, but also because this particular Sabbath was a “high day.” It was the 15th day of the first month, which was the beginning of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and this went for seven days. Theologians do not argue too much about 33 A.D. being the year of the crucifixion, but there are still arguments about when He was born.
There is one problem, though. The one problem is what we read in Luke 3:23, which theologians have struggled with for hundreds of years. This really makes determining His birth year a little more difficult. Luke 3:23 is speaking of right at the time when Christ’s ministry began. It would have been in the Fall of 29 A.D. when He was baptized by John the Baptist. We read in Luke 3:23:
And Jesus himself began to be about thirty years of age, being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph, which was the son of Heli,
This apparently says that He was “about thirty” when He began His ministry; but if you study the words in this verse, you will see that there are numerous verses in the New Testament that give a person’s age and they never gives a person’s age in this way.
In the first place, the word “age” is not actually in this verse. It literally says:
And Jesus Himself was thirty years beginning…
So the word “age” is not there.
We can look at Luke 2:42 to see how an age is given in the Greek. This is speaking of Christ when His parents went up to Jerusalem. Luke 2:42 says:
And when he was twelve years old, they went up to Jerusalem…
This can literally be translated:
And when he was years twelve…
When it gives a person’s age in the Greek language, it generally says that they are “of twelve years,” or something like this.
Look at Luke 2:36. This says:
And there was one Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Aser: she was of a great age, and had lived with an husband seven years from her virginity;
Again, the word “age” is not there. It literally says:
…she was gone on in days many…
The Greek language just does not use the word “age.” I do not even know if there is a word for “age” in the Greek language that is used in the way that we use it. Also, this word for “beginning,” as we read in Luke 3:23, is never in any verse that gives a person’s age.
Look at Luke 8. This is speaking of a man named Jairus whose daughter was dying. We read in Luke 8:42:
For he had one only daughter, about twelve years of age…
Again, the Greek does not say this. It says:
…about years twelve…
This word for “beginning” from Luke 3:23 is used over 80 times in the New Testament and it is never used to speak of someone’s age. It speaks of the commencement of something, the beginning of something. Even if you read commentaries, some of those commentary writers will say that Luke 3:23 was not translated correctly.
I believe that “Jesus Himself was thirty years beginning” is saying that this was about thirty years from the beginning of His life after coming out of Egypt when His life on this earth as the Messiah really began. I also believe that this is what Mr. Camping has taught.
For those of you who study words and who can get into the Greek with your Interlinear Bibles and your concordances, look at this. This word “beginning” is never used to speak of someone’s birth. Again, there is no Greek word for the word “age.” They put this in there. This is just giving us more and more evidence that being brought out of Egypt was a beginning for Christ and it is a beginning for all of us as well.
Look at Acts 11. This is just one place where we can see this word “beginning.” We read in Acts 11:1-4:
And the apostles and brethren that were in Judaea heard that the Gentiles had also received the word of God. And when Peter was come up to Jerusalem, they that were of the circumcision contended with him, Saying, Thou wentest in to men uncircumcised, and didst eat with them. But Peter rehearsed the matter from the beginning…
This is the way that the Greek uses this word. It is a commencement of something. It is the start of something. It is never used in relation to the beginning of life, as a birth.
Again, Acts 11:4 says:
But Peter rehearsed the matter from the beginning, and expounded it by order unto them…
So, again, Luke 3:23 literally says:
And Jesus Himself was thirty years beginning…
I have never studied the Greek language. I only know what I know about sentence structures, verbs, adverbs, and verb tenses, etc., but I did the best that I could do. Again, theologians are not entirely in agreement with this verse, but I believe that this is spiritually talking about His beginning after He came out of Egypt.
I believe that God is just continuing to encourage His people and to show them that they are on the right track as He continues to open up our understanding of “time and judgment” in these last days.
Let me just close with a couple more verses from the Christmas story in Luke 2. In Luke 2, this is concerning the shepherds. We read in Luke 2:8-12:
And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you…
This is another sign. It continues:
…Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.
When He says in Luke 2:12:
And this shall be a sign unto you…
We do not know, but this could be referring back to Luke 2:11. We read in Luke 2:11-13:
For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God…
After the shepherds have gone into Bethlehem to see the child, we read in Luke 2:17-18:
And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child. And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds.
This is the Gospel going into the world now. The child is born. He is manifested.
We are understanding more about the Messiah. But all of us, if we are true believers, are shepherds and this is what we do. We simply take this message into the world. We take the whole counsel of God. Especially now, we are to warn of “sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment.”
We read in 2 Peter 2:5:
And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly;
What does it mean to preach righteousness? Very simply, it means to preach Christ.
We are all sinners. God has named some from before the foundations of the world to be saved. He atoned for their sins. As He awakens His people, He does this through His Word through the preaching of righteousness, the righteousness that is in Christ. We need this righteousness so that we can stand before God in this judgment. Because of our sin, we cannot stand before Him in any way in our own righteousness.
Isaiah 54:17 says:
No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of JEHOVAH, and their righteousness is of me, saith JEHOVAH.
This is how it works. Maybe you are beginning to fear this date of May 21st that is quickly coming. We are in 2011. How quickly the time has gone! It has just flown by. But for anyone who is unsure themselves or concerned about their loved ones or others, we can simply continue to cry to God for His mercy. There is nothing that we can do and crying will not save us, but only a child of God will cry unto the Lord and will endure to the end, as he is being led of God.
Psalm 88:1-2 starts out:
O JEHOVAH God of my salvation, I have cried day and night before thee: Let my prayer come before thee: incline thine ear unto my cry;
When we go through the Psalms, we can see many verses like this. As we continue for the next few months, I think that we are going to be speaking a lot about crying out to God and a lot about self-examination.
Psalm 17:1 says:
Hear the right, O JEHOVAH, attend unto my cry, give ear unto my prayer, that goeth not out of feigned lips.
We are to hear Christ in this. This is a Psalm of David. Then we read in Psalm 17:3:
Thou hast proved mine heart; thou hast visited me in the night; thou hast tried me, and shalt find nothing; I am purposed that my mouth shall not transgress.
In the first instance, this is referring to Christ, because He is without sin; but all of us, if we are true believers, have been brought through those fires with Him. We have been tried, as it were.
Psalm 17:1 says again:
…give ear unto my prayer, that goeth not out of feigned lips.
Could we just say to God, “Could it be as I call on You that this prayer is not going out of feigned lips, and as I glorify You before men, could it be that I am not a hypocrite?”
More and more each day, we have to be thinking about self-examination and about continuing to cry out to God; because, in His mercy, He gives us the privilege of crying out to Him.
We will stop here.