October 2, 2012 … Coming to Worship THE King

Chronological Bible Reading Plan - Day 276

Passage of the Day: Reference of Today’s Chronological Bible Study: Matthew, Chapter 1 To study these chapters, go to this link -
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Highlight Passage: Matthew 2: 1: 1-6; 9-12; 14-15; 17-18; 19-22 [comment] : [NLT] … {The “wise men” were likely astrologers or seers from eastern countries or provinces who were well studied in the Jewish scriptures. Herod, the Great, being the Roman imposed king of the Jews, knew that he was not of the line of David and was therefore not the king spoken of in God’s word or prophesied by the ancient prophets; and his nervousness, hearing the mission of the “wise men” was indicative of his paranoid personality. Matthew writes these facts to impress Jews in his day that the wise men had come to worship THE ONE, The Messiah, who was born in fulfillment of the prophets of old – e.g., see Micah 5: 2.} … 1 Jesus was born in the town of Bethlehem in Judea, during the reign of King Herod. About that time some wise men from eastern lands arrived in Jerusalem, asking, 2 “Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We have seen his star as it arose, and we have come to worship him.” … 3 Herod was deeply disturbed by their question, as was all of Jerusalem. 4 He called a meeting of the leading priests and teachers of religious law. “Where did the prophets say the Messiah would be born?” he asked them. 5 “In Bethlehem,” they said, “for this is what the prophet wrote: {Quoting from Micah 5: 2 6 ‘O Bethlehem of Judah, you are not just a lowly village in Judah, for a ruler will come from you who will be the shepherd for my people Israel.’” … {The wise men seekers likely found Jesus in a temporary residence where Joseph and Mary had taken up residence after the birth, relocating from Nazareth to Bethlehem. Then after hearing from God in a dream about Herod’s real intent, the wise men did not return to Herod the Great after worshipping the future King of the Jews and the Messiah, going back to their homes by other routes.} … 9 After this interview the wise men went their way. Once again the star appeared to them, guiding them to Bethlehem. It went ahead of them and stopped over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they were filled with joy! 11 They entered the house where the child and his mother, Mary, were, and they fell down before him and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasure chests and gave him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. 12 But when it was time to leave, they went home another way, because God had warned them in a dream not to return to Herod. {After the wise men left, in response to another dream message from God to Joseph, the family left Bethlehem for Egypt, which also turned out to setting historical events into the context of the fulfillment of Scriptural prophesy. See Hosea 11: 1.} … 14 That night Joseph left for Egypt with the child and Mary, his mother, 15 and they stayed there until Herod’s death. This fulfilled what the Lord had spoken through the prophet: “I called my Son out of Egypt.” {Herod’s paranoia takes him way overboard as he orders that all Jewish boys below the age of two be executed. And in describing this, Matthew quotes directly from the prophesy of Jeremiah 31: 15 which was fulfilled in Herod’s evil decree and action.} … 17 Herod’s brutal action fulfilled the prophecy of Jeremiah: 18 … “A cry of anguish is heard in Ramah — weeping and mourning unrestrained. Rachel {the wife of Jacob, from which the Jewish nation was birthed – a picture of God weeping for His children dying at the hands of Herod} weeps for her children, refusing to be comforted—for they are dead.” … {In verses 19-22 of Matthew 2 we read of Joseph having another directive dream from God to return to Nazareth, which he did with his family to settle there as Jesus, the Messiah grow into adulthood.}

My Journal for Today: Well, upon seeing that I only was assigned to study from one chapter of Matthew today, I thought … “Oh, a breather!;” … but then when I got into the study, I realized why the editor of YouVersion.com had only assigned this one chapter today for my chronological read.

Matthew, in his attempt to show his Jewish readership of the Old Testament scriptures, concerning the Messiah, takes his readers through the story of the so-called “wise men” coming from the east and the treachery of Herod trying to kill the baby Messiah who was predicted to become King of the Jews; and Matthew also wrote of Joseph relocating his family to Egypt first and then back to Nazareth … all of which was in fulfillment of various Old Testament prophesies about Messiah.

In all of this Matthew was not only relating the historical account of Jesus’ early days … but also he was giving His Jewish readers, in his gospel account, an apologetic lesson in how Jesus’ early life was the fulfillment of prophetic scripture. And I hope you’ve re-read and studied this scripture as I have this morning; because it is compelling scriptural evidence that the baby the wise men came to worship is the One Whom we should be worshipping with our gifts of living sacrifice every day of our lives [see Romans 12: 1-2].

And take note that one day we will see in heaven all those babies who were martyred in His Name and for His sake; just as we’ll see all the babies who have been sacrificed in abortions in our lifetime. God will reconstitute and reform all of these little martyrs into His heavenly kingdom to be with Him forever with new Christ-like bodies. Yes, it was a tragedy that Herod sacrificed all those Jewish babies in the holocaust of his day; and it is equally a tragedy that millions of God’s babies are sacrificed in abortion in our day; but they all will be with Jesus as He would later testify in Matthew 19: 14, linked here .

The Jews who were reading the second chapter of Matthew needed to read and see that Jesus was truly the Messiah, the One who had come to be the Savior of mankind; and Matthew painted the early picture of Jesus’ life with his family, finally arriving in Nazareth where He would grow from boyhood to manhood and ultimately be led by His Father and God’s Spirit to fulfill the ultimate prophesy of His life being the Messiah.

But today I ask, “Are we, as did the “wise men,” coming to worship Jesus as our King?

My Prayer Today: … Oh, my LORD, You are my King, Jesus; and may my life be a living sacrifice, a gift of service, to you today as every day. And in that regard I’m here singing this song to You, my King, at this link…  Amen