Bible Study on: Matthew Chapter 2
by Russell J. Schmidt
Wise Men from the East
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, 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.”
3) When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. 4) 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.’”
7) 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.”
9) When they heard the king, they departed; and behold, the star which they had seen in the East 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.
11) And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child 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.
12) Then, being divinely warned in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed for their own country another way.
The Flight into Egypt
13) Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, “Arise, take the young Child and His mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I bring you word; for Herod will seek the young Child to destroy Him.”
14) When he arose, he took the young Child and His mother by night and departed for Egypt,
15) and was there until the death of Herod, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, “Out of Egypt I called My Son.”
Massacre of the Innocents
16) Then Herod, when he saw that he was deceived by the wise men, was exceedingly angry; and he sent forth and put to death all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all its districts, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the wise men.
17) Then was fulfilled what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying:
18) “A voice was heard in Ramah, Lamentation, weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, Refusing to be comforted, Because they are no more.”
The Home in Nazareth
19) Now when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt,
20) saying, “Arise, take the young Child and His mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the young Child’s life are dead.”
21) Then he arose, took the young Child and His mother, and came into the land of Israel.
22) But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea instead of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. And being warned by God in a dream, he turned aside into the region of Galilee.
23) 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.”
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Book of Matthew, Chapter Two
Verses 1-2:
Visitors to the Christ child from the East
The traditional Christmas story that we hear every year at Christmastime is all encapsulated into that one night of Christmas Eve. It is not accurate to assume all the events of the Christmas story happened that one evening. Besides the fact that the Bible does not even give a date or even indicate what time of year His birth occurred; it doesn’t tell us the time frame that all the events of the Christmas story unfolded. We do have some indications from Scripture about some of these events, but no details.
We start off in verse 1 with the fulfillment of Micah 5:2, which reads, “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall come forth to Me The One to be Ruler in Israel, whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting.” This is Micah’s prophecy of the Messiah Jesus being born in Bethlehem. Here in Matthew 2:1 we get the confirmation.
Verse 1 continues by informing us that this happened during the reign of king Herod of Judea. The conclusion of verse 1, tells us that “wise men” came from the east of Jerusalem. The New International Version of the Bible uses the word “Magi” instead of “wise men”. Magi may very well be the better translation, because the original word that was used here is a Greek word “magos”, which was derived from the Babylonian language.
The Greek word “magos” refers to a “magician” or “sorcerer”; it also has a definition of “wise men,” but this definition is not accurate in its description. Wise in what area? Because the Scripture tells us they come from the east of Jerusalem, and that they are called “magos,” it is assumed that they may have come from Babylonia. Babylonia is the traditional home of astrology. If this were the case, then these men, who are describe as kings from the east in some of our Christmas stories, were probably astrologers and not kings at all. What would also help us to make that conclusion is that they were following a star.
As we read verse 2, we see that these Magi were asking towns-folk, where they might find the “king of the Jews?” They went on to explain that they saw “His” star. They personalize the star as being the Messiah’s star. Jewish prophecy could be responsible for their understanding of this most unusual star. Numbers 24:17, reads, “A Star shall come out of Jacob; A Scepter shall rise out of Israel.” Being that they were most likely astrologers of some sort, they were probably intrigued by Jewish prophecy, So, when they saw this star they were moved to follow it.
I believe they were prompted by the Holy Spirit of God and may have been watching for this sign. I believe that because when we get to verse 12, we see that an angel of the Lord came to them in a dream to warn them not to go back to Herod, who wanted them to find the Messiah. In the same way the angel came to them in a dream in verse 12, I believe that they were contacted or prompted by this angel to seek out this unusual star.
Verses 3-12:
When Herod heard that these men were looking for the “king of the Jews,” verse 3 says, “it troubled him.” Why did it trouble him? Well, he took this as a threat to his throne. In verse four Herod called on the Jewish chief priests and scribes to ask them about this prophecy of theirs, that speaks of the coming Messiah and the sign of the star; and where this prophecy says He will be born.
In verse 5 and 6 the Jewish priests and scribes point to the prophecy of Micah 5:2, that I referred to earlier. In verse seven, Herod calls to him those Magi that were asking all the questions, and he asked them, “what time did the star appear.” Again this can be misleading if not taken in context to the surrounding storyline. The traditional Christmas story has the star appearing on Christmas Eve. Again, we can jump ahead to verse twelve as to finding the reason for Herod wanting to know, not the time of day that the star appeared, but the question should read, when did the star first appear.
If Herod can determine approximately when the star appeared, he would have an idea of the age of the baby. His whole intension was to kill Jesus, so as to stop this threat to his throne. Suddenly people were paying more attention to this baby who was called the “king of the Jews,” than they were to king Herod himself.
In verse 8, Herod who gives the impression that he too wants to honor the Christ child, tells the Magi to go find the infant and bring back word to him of His location so he can bring a gift of his own. They agreed and went on their way. Once leaving Herod the star appeared to them and led them to baby Jesus in Bethlehem.
Regardless of who these Magi were or what their spiritual belief or background was, in verse 10 and 11, we find that they were full of joy to find Baby Jesus and fell down and worshipped Him. It sounds as though they may have had a born again experience out of something that probably started out as a curiosity seeking search of this star and the Jewish prophecies that alerted them to it.
Again, many of the traditional Christmas stories refer to these Magi as kings, probably because of the gifts that they offered Jesus; gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Of course, we all know what gold is, but frankincense was a very expensive incense, and myrrh was a very expensive spice. These were traditionally gifts offered to kings by other kings or the wealthy. Which leads us to believe that these men were very affluent in their trade.
Verses 13-18:
Mary, Joseph and Baby Jesus Escape to Egypt
The first three verses here, are pretty self explanatory and fulfill the prophecy of Hosea 11:1, which reads, “When Israel was a child, I loved him, And out of Egypt I called My son.” Joseph again, had a dream encounter with an angel of the Lord. This time telling him to protect baby Jesus from what was about to occur as an edict from king Herod; to kill all the male children up to two years old throughout Bethlehem and the surrounding area.
In the end of verse 16, we get further evidence that this Christmas story that we hear every year, happen over a longer period of time than just on Christmas Eve. This part of verse 16, says, “according to the time which he had determined from the wise men.” Who knows how long these wise men or Magi were looking for the baby Jesus. Traditionally, in the culture of the day, gifts were brought the a baby within the first 40 days of the child’s life.
We would assume, since the Magi came baring gifts, that it was within this timeframe, but we do not know for sure, because we are not told. It is possible that the may have come much later, because the king had determined to kill males up to two years old. Whatever the case may be, we just assume that it is not important for us to know all the details or God would have provided them to us. What’s important is the fact that Scripture is being fulfilled and God’s plan is happening just as He said it would.
Verses 19-23:
Mary, Joseph and Baby Jesus Return to Nazareth
As we conclude chapter two, we find that an angel of the Lord comes to Joseph again to inform him that it is now OK to take Jesus back to the land of Israel, because king Herod has died. As Joseph took his family back to Israel, he heard along the way that king Herod was replace by his son, Archelaus. This man must have had a similar reputation as his father Herod, because when Joseph heard he was the king, he feared going back there.
Once again, Joseph hears from the angel in his dream to take baby Jesus to Galilee instead. This fulfills yet another prophetic word as Scripture here tells us that, “it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, ‘He shall be called a Nazarene.’” Now this particular prophecy is no where to be found in the Old Testament. It may have been a spoken prophecy and not written in Scripture. What we do have in Isaiah 9:1, is a reference to a prophecy of “One who will honor Galilee of the Gentiles.“
Since Nazareth was in the region of Galilee, this could very well be a reference to that, and just maybe there was a part of that prophecy that was not written but spoken of and known by the Jews of that day. Of course the Jews, for the most part, have not recognized the fulfillment of that prophecy yet. I say, “for the most part” and “yet,” because there are many Jews who are believers in Jesus as their Messiah; and in time as we know from prophecies such as Ezekiel that talks of the end times when the Jews eyes will be opened to this truth. We do see signs of this happening today with more and more Jews accepting Jesus as their Messiah. Praise God!
This concludes our study of Matthew chapter two. Please, come back and study further with us.
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