Parkdale Grace Fellowship Sunday AM, December 17, 2017 Matthew 2:1-12 Stars and Prophets Foretell the Coming of Christ There were many Bible prophesies and supernatural signs which were foretelling the coming of Christ when Jesus came the first time, 2000 years ago, and those who took the Bible prophesies seriously were prepared for the coming of Christ. Likewise the Bible has also given many prophecies and signs that it says will let us know what to look for at the second coming of Christ. And those who take the Bible prophesies seriously are getting ready for the second coming of Christ. For when Jesus came to the earth 2,000 years ago He promised that He was goi ng to physically return again to this earth and set up His everlasting Kingdom. Vs. 1, "Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, Verse one connects this account with the birth of Jesus although this event takes place weeks, perhaps months, or even more than a year after Jesus was born. Notice who is king at the time Herod who had been appointed as king of the Jews by the Senate in Rome. (John Piper) Wise men from the East came to Jerusalem where Herod s palace was located. We have no idea how many wise men there were despite the tradition of there being three wise men. That tradition is based upon the description of three gifts, gold, frankincense and myrrh. Matthew s gospel doesn t specify which country they came from, but they are described as coming from the east. Many scholars believe they came from modern d ay Iraq and Iran which is ancient Babylon and Persia. About 600 years earlier the nation of Israel had been taken captive by the Babylonians and they spent about 70 years in Babylon and Persia. This was during the years of Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. Many Jews never returned to Israel, so there was a lot of Jewish influence in the land of the East. We know little about these men. The word translated wise men (magi) refers to a group of scholars who studied the stars. They were astrologers, highly educated and skilled scientists with an amazing knowledge of the stars, who carefully studied the stars looking for messages in their alignments. Vs. 2, " wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, 2 saying, Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him. " The Bible does not say that they followed the star to Jerusalem. But they had seen a significant star that indicated to them that a special king had been born in Israel.
2 This knowledge could only have come from a combination of an amazing understanding of the significance of the stars and an understanding of some key Biblical prophecies. Apart from Bible prophecy the signs in the sky, and other signs of the times are meaningless. People today have no idea what is the significance of the increasing frequency and severity of earthquakes, volcanoes and severe weather patterns coinciding with growing global anti-semitism and intolerance of true Christianity unless they are studying Bib le prophecy. Therefore it is important for the church to be making known to the world what God s word has to say about the signs of the end times all around us. Likewise, these wise men from the East could never have known the meaning of the star they had seen unless they knew something about Bible prophecy. Bible prophecy is what gave meaning to the special star that they had seen. It is widely suspected that these wise men were influenced by the teaching and writings of Daniel the Jewish prophet who was, in his time, the greatest and chief of all the magi. Daniel knew how to read the stars and he was a very devout worshipper of God. His understanding of the stars and of the prophecies of the Bible had apparently been passed down over the years. Did the Old Testament prophecy anything about a special star that would signal the birth of Jesus the Messiah? Numbers 24:15-19, So he took up his oracle and said: The utterance of Balaam the son of Beor, and the utterance of the man whose eyes are opened; 16 the utterance of him who hears the words of God, and has the knowledge of the Most High, who sees the vision of the Almighty, who falls down, with eyes wide open: 17 I see Him, but not now; I behold Him, but not near; a Star shall come out of Jacob; a Scepter shall rise out of Israel, and batter the brow of Moab, and destroy all the sons of tumult 19 Out of Jacob One shall have dominion... The coming of the Messiah was prophesied to be signaled by a star. The Apostle Peter confirms this prophetic connection between the coming of Christ and a special star whom he calls the morning star. 2 Peter 1:16, 19-21, For we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty 19 And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts; 20 knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, 21 for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. It seems likely that Daniel the prophet wrote many other w ritings besides the book of Daniel which is preserved in the Bible. As a scientist he probably had written books on his study and understanding of the stars and what they reveal about God.
3 What we do know is that in Daniel 7:14, Daniel had prophesied the future coming of a special King of Israel to whom would be given, dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom the one which shall not be destroyed." So these wise men were seeking this final King who would end all kings So these wise men obviously knew something of Bible prophecy, possibly passed down to them by Daniel, and they knew what kind of star to be looking for presumably also insights passed down to them by Daniel. And obviously they were watching the signs in the sky, looking for the rising of that special morning star. There is significant evidence that ancient humans understood much more about the stars than we do today. There are God glorifying messages communicated through the stars that ancient man once understood. The astrological signs of the Zodiac and the horoscope, for example, are a corrupted and tiny remnant of that ancient understanding of the messages communicated by the stars. However unlike the pagan beliefs, the stars don t govern our lives they declare the wisdom and glory of God. We will never find the truth by studying astrology and the zodiac that distorted information will only lead us astray; it is a perversion of truth. The truth is that there is much knowledge communicated by God through the positioning of the stars, though it is a display of knowledge that modern man has almost entirely lost the ability to read or to discern. Psalm 19:1-4, "The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. 2 Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge. 3 There is no speech, nor are there words, whose voice is not heard. 4 Their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world." ESV The heavens had declared the birth of Jesus Christ, the Son of God who had come to earth as a man and these magi from the east had accurately interpreted the message and came looking for the King of the Jews. In Luke 21:25 Jesus affirms that there are signs in the sun, moon and stars which will signal the second coming of Christ to the earth, "And there will be signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars; and on the earth distress of nations, with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring; " Revelation chapter 12 gives some detail about some of the signs which we believe these wise men from the east were reading in the sky which led them to Israel in search of the King who was to be worshiped as God.
4 Revelation 12:1-2, 5, "Now a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a garland of twelve stars. 2 Then being with child, she cried out in labor and in pain to give birth 5 She bore a male Child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron. " John saw in his vision the sign that appeared in heaven signaling the birth of the Messiah who was born to rule all nations. The stars did not control the events on earth God did. The stars merely declared what God was doing they were God s calendar. And the wise men were reading God s calendar and knew what was going on. And when they saw the star appear they knew the Messiah, the ultimate and final King of the Jews had been born a King who would never die but who would rule an everlasting kingdom that would never pass away or be destroyed. Their desire was to worship such a King, for such an ever lasting King could be none other than God. And they were highly motivated to take a journey that would last likely several weeks, so that they could worship this King. So logically they came to Jerusalem where the present king lived, assuming that a future king would be born into the family of a present king. There was a king already in Jerusalem, his name was Herod, but they had not come to honor King Herod. Matthew 2:3, "When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. This king Herod was known as Herod the Great. He had made a name for himself by constructing great cities and amazing buildings, such as fortresses (i.e. Masada), pagan temples, amphitheaters, hippodromes and he built a new Jewish temple in Jerusalem. Herod was however a wicked, bloodthirsty, jealous and very insecure king. Executions of those who were not loyal to him were common. (James Shelton, Matthew, Full Life Bible Commentary, p. 137) The idea that these high ranking foreign magi had come to his co untry to honor another king besides himself was very troubling, not only to himself but troubling for the whole city who knew Herod s reputation for violence. Herod understood what these wise men were saying: these magi were not searching for a mere, ordinary, human successor to Herod s throne. They were searching for the final King, to end all kings. The one the Jew s called the Messiah, or Christ, and he along with all those under his authority were troubled by this news. It is very interesting and significant that now, as we see many prophetic signs being fulfilled that indicate the King is coming again soon, that the prince of this world (Satan) and all those under his authority are becoming very troubled and worked up, and very
5 upset about the Jews being back in Jerusalem and especially upset that Jerusalem is being recognized as Israel s capital. Why is that such a big deal? Because the Bible prophesies that a sign of Christ s return is that the Jews will be restored to Israel, and Jerusalem will once a gain become the capitol where Jesus will return and set up His throne. Satan will do everything in his power to try to stop that from happening. Herod didn t know the Bible, so he didn t know where this expected King, the Christ or Messiah was to be born. So he called on the scribes, the Bible experts and asked them. Matthew 2:4-6, And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. 5 So they said to him, In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophet: 6 But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, Are not the least among the rulers of Judah; For out of you shall come a Ruler Who will shepherd My people Israel. " They knew that the prophet Micah had prophesied in Micah 5:2, 6 that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem. We see here that we can study prophecy about future events and accurately determine from the prophecies many details about what is going to take place. The portion of Micah s prophecy that they q uote here was only one of 61 specific prophecies made hundreds of years earlier about the Messiah which were all fulfilled by Jesus. Not only were the stars coming into alignment to announce the birth of Christ but so too were many prophesies coming together to confirm that Jesus was indeed the promised Messiah, the Son of God who had come to save us from our sin. For example, here are just a few of the 61 specific prophesies made about the Messiah Isaiah 7:14 prophesied that the Messiah would be born of a virgin. And we now know that it happened just as it was written Jesus was born of the virgin Mary. Psalm 2:7 prophesied that Christ would be the Son of God. The angel Gabriel appeared to Mary and confirmed that her child would be the Son of God, conceived by the Holy Spirit. Jeremiah 23:5 prophesied that He would be a descendant of King David. And we know from the genealogies that through both his mother and his adopted father, Joseph, Jesus was a descendant of King David. Psalm 72:10 (c.f. 12-15) prophesied that the Messiah would be presented with gifts by foreign nobles from the east. Isaiah 35:5-6 prophesied that He would have a ministry of performing miracles. Psalm 78:2 prophesied that He would be a teacher of parables. Zechariah 9:9 prophesied that He would enter Jerusalem on a donkey s colt. Psalm 41:9 prophesied that Jesus would be betrayed by a close friend.
6 Zechariah 11:12 prophesied that He would be sold for 30 pieces of silver. Psalm 22:16 prophesied that His hands and feet would be pierced. Isaiah 53:12 prophesied that He would be put to death with thieves. Psalm 22:18 prophesied that they would cast lots for His clothing. Psalm 34:20 prophesied that His bones would not be broken Zechariah 12:10 prophesied that His side would be pierced. Psalm 16:10 prophesied that Christ would rise from the dead. The fulfillment of all these prophesies confirm that Jesus was the prophesied Messiah, the Son of God. There are many prophesies being fulfilled today which signal that t he second coming of Christ is drawing very near. What should we be doing to get ready for His return? When He returns it is important that we be found faithfully carrying out the task that He has given us of trusting and depending fully upon Him for all th e grace to be loving God, loving our neighbor, and proclaiming the gospel and making disciples of Christ. Matthew 2:7-8, "Then Herod, when he had secretly called the wise men, determined from them what time the star appeared. 8 And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, Go and search carefully for the young Child, and when you have found Him, bring back word to me, that I may come and worship Him also. These wise men were foreigners; they likely did not know what kind of man Herod was so they were unsuspecting that Herod had no intention of coming to worship the baby king. His only intention was to destroy this threat to his throne. Matthew 2:9-10, When they heard the king, they departed; and behold, the star which they had seen in the East [or possibly, which they saw rising on the horizon, Shelton, p. 138] went before them, till it came and stood over where the young Child was. 10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy. What was all the joy about? As they are leaving the city of Jerusalem they see the same special sign star which had prompted their journey from the east, but where do they now see it? On the horizon of the southern sky directly above the town of Bethlehem which is visible from Jerusalem. Now they see the sign from heaven aligned with the sign they just heard from Biblical prophecy. This is confirmation that they have rightly interpreted the star and their hearts are filled with exceedingly great joy to see what the sovereign God who controls the universe is doing. They just set their eyes on the star on the horizon and moved toward it. No one knows for sure how the star led them to the very house where Jesus lived. Perhaps as they entered the village of Bethlehem they went to the first house that was directly in line with the trajectory they had been following, and sure enough, there was Jesus.
7 They may have knocked on the door of the house and when Joseph answered they would introduce themselves and ask if there was a child in that home who had been b orn on such and such a date. This would confirm that the child in this house was the one they were seeking because the wise men had a fairly precise date of the King s birth based on when His special star first appeared in the sky. Joseph would have confirmed that they had a little boy who had been born on that date. The wise men would have explained their mission and Joseph would have invited them into the home to meet Jesus. Matthew 2:11, And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Ch ild with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. " Can you imagine the excitement as Mary and these wise men exchanged stories? Mary telling about the visitation from the angel, and the wise men explaining the alignment of stars in the heavens. These men respond in worship as we also today should respond to Jesus in worship. They fall to the ground before Jesus, signifying that He is high and they are low that He has great dignity and they are lowly by comparison. They worship by offering sacrificial gifts. So why do we give gifts as a form of worship to God? What does it mean? Our sacrificial gifts are meant by God to intensify our hunger and desi re for Christ himself in much the same way that fasting intensifies our desire for God. (From John Piper s sermon titled We Have Come to Worship Him ) Lord, by giving to You what You do not need, and what I could have used and enjoyed, I am saying more earnestly and more authentically, You are my treasure, not these things You are my provider and security, not these things. (John Piper, Ibid) God moved the stars of heaven to draw these men to Christ so that they would worship their Creator and find the joy of their lives in Him. What has God been doing in your life to bring you to that place of joyfully sacrificing all to worship the Lord? Matthew 2:12, Then, being divinely warned in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed for their own country another way.
8 Revelation 22:16, I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things in the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star. Copyright 2017 by Parkdale Grace Fellowship Permission: You are permitted to reproduce and distribute this material in any format, provided that you do not alter the wording in any way and do not charge a fee beyond the cost of reproduction. Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright 1979, 1980, 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.