The Secret Codes in Matthew: Examining Israel’s Messiah, Part 3, by Kevin M. Williams
Journey through the Gospel to the Hebrews with Kevin Williams as he unveils rich Hebraisms and prophetic Messianic insights.
In the first two parts of our series on the gospel of Matthew, we have looked into the apostle’s claims that Jesus is the promised Messiah. We have examined some rather subtle ways Matthew managed to get his point across. We have examined Jesus’ lineage and how Matthew emphasized Jesus’ right to David’s eternal throne. We have looked into what many rabbis consider the four epochs of time, and how the season of Jesus’ birth may be another sign of his kingship. And, we considered the arrival of the magi, the prophet Daniel’s followers, setting out on their journey to confirm what one of Babylon’s most famous sages had predicted—the arrival of the Messiah.1
As we continue studying the words of Matthew, we will see that he continues to maintain his purpose—to show the Jewish world that Yeshua (Jesus) is the Messiah of Israel, and all nations.
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Matthew 2:13-14
Now when they had gone, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Get up! Take the Child and His mother and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is going to search for the Child to destroy Him.” So Joseph got up and took the Child and His mother while it was still night, and left for Egypt.
Joseph, or as he was known by his countrymen, Yosef, was no stranger to prophetic dreams, nor to the appearance of God’s messenger. Joseph’s character is certainly one to admire. He did not wait until morning, he did not wait until he could discuss it with his other spiritual friends. He did not wait until it seemed convenient. He gathered his family and left Israel that very night!
Yet the question that seems unresolved, for me at least, is, “why Egypt?” After all, wasn’t Egypt the source of Israel’s oppression for so many centuries under the hands of Pharaoh? Yet, God decrees for Joseph to take his family to Egypt.
This is not without precedent. For all the evil Egypt represents, the land of pyramids and snakes was also the land of plenty and provision for families of the Bible. Abraham went to Egypt during a famine. Jacob and his 12 sons all lived in Egypt. Joseph brought the Israelites fame while they lived in the land of Goshen, before the great Exodus. After the destruction of Solomon’s temple by the Babylonians, Egypt became home for the prophet Jeremiah. For reasons we may not understand God has selected Egypt as a place of provision for His people on several occasions.
It is also worth noting that Jewish society flourished before the birth of Jesus in one of Egypt’s most celebrated cities, Alexandria. There were so many Egyptian Jews, that the scholars in Jerusalem took up the task of translating the Hebrew Bible into Greek, the language of Alexandria. Today we know that translation as the Septuagint and it is still used in comparative analysis of New Testament Greek. It would be unfair to think that Joseph fled to a forsaken, pagan, region. In Alexandria, Joseph would have found kin.
And as related previously, there appears to be something special about Egypt in God’s heart. The prophet Isaiah has great promises for Israel’s neighbor:
In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria, . . . In that day Israel will be the third party with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth, whom the Lord of hosts has blessed, saying, “Blessed is Egypt My people, and Assyria the work of My hands, and Israel My inheritance” (Isaiah 19:23-25).
Reading today’s news headlines, it is difficult to comprehend how this will happen, yet “with God, all things are possible” (Mark 10:27).
It is interesting to note, that on October 26, 1994, the final article of the Israeli-Jordanian Peace Agreement agrees to the construction of a physical highway between Egypt, Israel, Jordan, and Assyria (modern Syria). What God is about to accomplish in the supernatural realm, he often signals first in the natural realm. Let those who have eyes, see!
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Our chronicler, Matthew, then goes on to make what has become a controversial statement:
Matthew 2:15
He remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called My Son.”
Of course, Matthew is referencing Hosea 11:1. It is controversial because while this is used as a proof text by Christian evangelicals trying to win Hebrews for the Messiah, it is rejected by most Jewish people—at least the ones that know the Bible. They turn to Exodus 4:22, “Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the Lord, “Israel is My son, My firstborn.”’” For the non-believing Jew, Hosea 11:1 was fulfilled in the great Exodus, when God did, indeed call the His firstborn, the Jewish people, out of Egypt.
Yet, Hosea knew this as antiquity when his book was penned. Hosea is not a book of history, but of prophecy, not of past events but of future truths. While some among our Jewish brethren may wish to discount Matthew’s comment, it means they must also question not only Hosea as a prophet, but God Almighty since the passage reads, “which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet.”
The context reveals a secret: It was a matter of historical fact, yet it was being spoken “through the prophet” many centuries after the fact.
This is where our models of interpretation may be useful, specifically p’shat and remez (literal and implied).* In a literal reading of the text, your only conclusion is that Hosea is speaking of the nation of Israel. However common this type of grammatical-historical exegesis may be, it neglects that fact that Hosea is a prophetic book. Therefore, albeit a historical reality, by the very context of a prophetic utterance, it would seem the text calls out for the reader to take a deeper look.
To explain this passage of Hosea, we must first take a short digression.
The role of the biblical sacrifice was to be a substitutionary atonement. In other words, the animal giving its life was a substitute for the person in sin. In the grander picture, the High Priest had to offer up a bull for his sins, since he represented the entire nation before God. If this was true of the substitute and if a single man represented the nation Israel before the Mercy Seat of the Most High, how much more then, is this true of God’s own Son, the Messiah of Israel?
In the Scriptures (Isaiah 9:6-7; 49:6, Prov 20:4), as well as ancient Hebrew commentaries (Pesikta Rabbati 161-162, Zohar 2:212a), we would find the Son being equal to the son (e.g. the Messiah is Israel). This precedent of Messianic interpretation in not in question among Christian or Jewish scholars.
Our author, Matthew, sees in the “Son,” the very goal Hosea saw in the “son,” whom God called out of Egypt.
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From here, Joseph receives two more angelic dreams, one to return to Israel, and the other to settle in Nazareth. Joseph, the ever faithful, found God’s provision and protection time and again.
Matthew 2:23
. . . And came and lived in a city called Nazareth. This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophets: “He shall be called a Nazarene.”
Here we find a unique quote by Matthew, since there is no singular biblical reference, but multiple possibilities. Dr. David H. Stern explains it thusly:
What I consider most probable is that Mattittyahu [Matthew’s Hebrew name] is combining . . . alternatives by means of wordplay, a technique very common in Jewish writing, including the Bible. Yeshua is both netzer and Natzrati. (Jewish New Testament Commentary, Jewish New Testament Publications, 1995, p. 14)
On the one hand, a Natzrati is someone from Nazareth, in the region of the Galilee. Matthew is giving readers insight as to how others might perceive Yeshua. As written in the gospel of John 1:46, “Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?” That region was not known for biblical scholarship, moral integrity, or pure lineage. In fact, as we will discover in later chapters, history records no fewer than five rebellions against Rome originating in that region of Israel.2 In short, Galileans were considered by many as little more than poorly educated troublemakers.
Similarly, it was somewhat common for Jewish families suffering persecution at the hands of Herod the Great, to flee into the region of Galilee.
Herod … sought to murder all the regal descendants of the throne of King David. Many of them fled the land of Judea—some to the Golan and others to the Galilee. Why do you suppose that Joseph and Mary lived in Nazareth rather than their native Bethlehem?3
While this satisfies the concept of Yeshua being a Natzrati, Dr. Stern also alludes to another possibility in the word play, as Matthew interpretably quotes Isaiah 11:1:
Then a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse, and a branch from his roots will bear fruit.
To an English reading audience, Isaiah 11:1 has little relevance to what Matthew is saying in his 23rd verse of chapter 2. Yet the Hebrew word for “shoot”—or “Branch” in some translations—is netzer (רצנ) which uses the same root word as Natzrati, or Nazareth.
We must remember, Matthew was writing to a Jewish audience, making the very bold claim that Yeshua, whom we call Jesus, was the Messiah of Israel. As we go through our study, we find Matthew’s handiwork going to wonderful extremes to drive this point home, using many literary forms common to the scholars and theologians of his day. These are only a few of the “secrets” buried within this gospel of the good news.
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Which brings us to the appearance of Yochanan Ha Matbeel—John the Immerser, commonly referred to as John the Baptists—in the 3rd chapter of Matthew.
Matthew 3:1-2
Now in those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
“The Kingdom of Heaven” is, if you will, a code word for “The Kingdom of God.” The name of the Most High was so sacred, that its use in any form outside of the temple service was strictly forbidden. Only the High Priest knew the correct pronunciation of the Name, and he was only permitted to utter it once a year on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement.4
To avoid any possibility of offending the Almighty, they simply avoided saying His Name, or anything that sounded like His Name, at all costs.
The concept of the Kingdom of God is crucial to understanding the Bible. It refers neither to a place nor to a time, but to a condition in which the rulership of God is acknowledged by humankind, a condition in which God’s promises of a restored universe free from sin and death are, or begin to be, fulfilled.5
For many, the kingdom of heaven is something of a paradox. In the New Testament it seems to be “among us” as a present reality and at the same time, it is an unfulfilled, future hope. For many believers the kingdom of heaven is real in their lives, but not fully realized. In the kingdom of heaven there is no death, and under the terms of the New Covenant, believers are spared eternal death. Yet we still physically die. As one Messianic Jewish theologian states it, it’s “the almost, but not yet kingdom.”6
Perhaps this is because on one hand, we are under the spiritual authority of a spiritual being—the Messiah or Lord. Under this spiritual authority, our spiritual lives are to be brought into submission.
But in the physical realm, that which we see and touch, the world around us has yet to come under the rulership of God, a fact that will be remedied when the Messiah returns to establish His throne in Jerusalem, in this physical existence.
On the one hand, we have glimpses of this reality of the kingdom of heaven, while on the other, it remains our blessed hope.
In previous issues of the Pneuma Review, David Burns presents a wonderful treatment on the Kingdom of Heaven. As he rightly states, it is an obscure concept for many western Christians. In our reality of financial independence and prosperity, under our democratic governments and self-determination philosophies, submitting—really submitting—to a Higher Authority is a vague notion.
Yet such submission is precisely the call of John the Baptist, of Jesus, of Paul, and the rest of the apostles. If you take the time to read what these men of Scripture have written or said, you’ll find that the majority of the time they do not discuss “the good news,” as is common among Evangelicals witnessing today, but the “good news of the kingdom of heaven.” “The good news” alone is a concept out of context. It was understood by the authors of our holy writ to be inseparably connected to the “kingdom of heaven.” It is one of the singular contiguous precepts of the entire Bible, from the fall of man in Genesis, to the New Jerusalem in Revelation. God’s desire has always been to establish His authority in the hearts of men and their governments.
We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5).
The kingdom of heaven is also referred to as the “Age to Come,” the Olam Habah in Hebrew literature. This concept of God’s reality made manifest on earth appears 61 times in the New Testament, making it one of the most repeated phrases or principles of the New Covenant. It would appear to be a doctrine with which God desires His people to become intimately familiar.
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Matthew 3:4-6
Now John himself had a garment of camel’s hair and a leather belt around his waist; and his food was locusts and wild honey. Then Jerusalem was going out to him, and all Judea and all the district around the Jordan; and they were being baptized by him in the Jordan River, as they confessed their sins.
There are many biblically literate Christians of the opinion that John the Baptist instituted the ritual observance of baptism. This is not true.
The Scriptures outlined ritual cleansings through immersion all the way back in Exodus. In fact, there are many forms of immersions, for many reasons:
- Ritual cleansing (Exodus 19:10)
- Temple cleansing (Exodus 30:18, Numbers 8:21)
- For priestly ordination (Exodus 40:12)
- Medicinal cleansings (Numerous references to skin diseases)
- Following sexual intercourse (Leviticus 15:16)
- Menstrual cleansing (Leviticus 15:19)
- For repentance (Matthew 3:6)
- To signify conversion (Matthew 28:19)
In principle, we could go all the way back to Noah in the book of Genesis to find the first immersion. How did God cleanse the earth of its uncleanness? He immersed it totally in water!
Similarly, the rabbis ascribe the crossing of the Sea (Ex 14) as a mikveh—an immersion. Through the crossing, the Israelites were symbolically cut-off from their oppressor, Pharaoh (an archetype for Satan), dead and buried to their former life and master, and brought over into new life, the first fruits of the community of the redeemed.
The spiritual application of immersions is deeply embedded in Hebraic life. John the Baptist did not invent baptism—he encouraged it.
Matthew 3:7
But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?”
This verse gives even further credibility to the fact that immersions were not a new phenomenon—even the Pharisees and Sadducees were coming forth for immersion by John! They did not wonder at what he was doing, or why. In fact, for some in this period, being immersed by a man of a particular reputation was considered a mitzvah—a righteous deed.7 They appear to have thought highly of John.
John’s response to the Pharisees and Sadducees is striking. On the one hand, he appears to set the tone in the New Testament for many readers’ opinions of these two sects. He may sound anti-Semitic, though his vocabulary echoes that of many Old Testament prophets.
“Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?” At the heart of John’s question is a deeper, more meaningful question. The Pharisees were known for striving after righteousness, of diving deeply in the Scripture to find each and every nuance so that they might live righteous lives free of sin. In many ways, they were trying to bring about the same kingdom of heaven John was preaching.
Yet, as is true with so many of us today, they had replaced faith, contrition, and humility, with outward appearances. Jesus accuses them later, in Matthew 23:27, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness.” Their striving had led to self-reliance in their own ability to be “clean.” They had replaced faith with deeds. Like the Messiah, John saw through this veneer.
Matthew 3:8-9
“Therefore bear fruit in keeping with repentance; and do not suppose that you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham for our father’; for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham.”
One of the most important reasons for immersion was, no one was permitted to approach the temple in an “unclean” state. Everyone had to go through immersion in order to ascend the temple mount to make sacrifices. To ascend unclean would incur immediate death by the temple guards. No trial, no excuses—just a spear through the heart. The mount’s ritual cleanness had to be maintained at all costs!
Anyone wanting to make a sacrifice at the temple had to be immersed. Modern archeology continues to unearth mikveh pools all around the temple mount area, further evidence of the commonality of immersions.
Yet, the Bible is very clear, God desires a contrite (repentant) spirit. “But to this one I will look, To him who is humble and contrite of spirit, and who trembles at My word” (Isaiah 66:2).
Anyone could (and can) go through the motions of immersion, but without a repentant heart, it is meaningless. John’s admonition to the Pharisees and Sadducees might just as well be for us today, “bear fruit in keeping with repentance.” Any other attitude—status as sons of Abraham for them, a denominational or theological dependence for us—is wrought with dangerous spiritual deception.
Matthew 3:10-12
“The axe is already laid at the root of the trees; therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. As for me, I baptize you with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clear His threshing floor; and He will gather His wheat into the barn, but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”
Matthew uses John the Baptist’s discourse to further his own gospel message—the Messiah of Israel is coming, the kingdom of heaven is at hand. John’s message was not at all out of line. The Pharisees believed (as the Jewish Orthodoxy today) that when the Messiah comes, he will explain everything. He will set matters straight, clarify the Scriptures and the Torah in such a way that any misdeeds or misunderstanding will be rectified. He will eliminate the unclean and purify the entire world.
We look at John’s words and think he is sounding harsh. In fact, he is reminding these pious sects of their own doctrines. His heart appears to be for their souls, not merely their temple ritual.
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Matthew 3:13-15
Then Jesus arrived from Galilee at the Jordan coming to John, to be baptized by him. John tried to prevent Him, saying, “I have need to be baptized by You, and do You come to me?” But Jesus answering said to him, “Permit it at this time; for in this way it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he permitted Him.
This passage of Scripture is often puzzling to laity and clergy alike, and it need not be. Even John seemed perplexed. We read what the crowds, the Pharisees, and Sadducees were doing—coming for the immersion of repentance, and we project the same onto Jesus.
As we read earlier, there were many different reasons why a person would go through the immersion. Not all of them had something to do with sin, repentance, or with ritual purification. At least one observance was reserved for ordination.
Exodus 40:12 reads, “Then you shall bring Aaron and his sons to the doorway of the tent of meeting and wash them with water. You shall put the holy garments on Aaron and anoint him and consecrate him, that he may minister as a priest to Me.”
This remained the practice of priestly ordination throughout the tabernacle and later temple periods. By Matthew’s day, the “washing” of Exodus 40:12 required a complete immersion. It was also an established custom that any priestly ordination had to be witnessed by priest. We do well to remember that John, son of Zechariah was a Levite, of the holy order of Abijah.
A priest assumed his role at the age of 30, the age ascribed to Jesus at the outset of His three-year ministry. To begin a priestly ministry—to be a servant God and to administer the service of atonement to the people—a priest had to be immersed at the hands of a Levite.
The Messiah’s immersion was not one of repentance, as some have assumed, but of ordination. For Yeshua, keeping the Torah perfectly was one of His missions in life, “to fulfill all righteousness.”
Matthew 3:6-17
After being baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and lighting on Him, and behold, a voice out of the heavens said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased.”
Again, the purpose of Matthew’s gospel is to proclaim to the Israelites that the Messiah was realized in this man, Yeshua. What a better confirmation than that of the Almighty?
The “voice out of heaven” is another literary devise of the Hebrew scholars, called the bat kol, it can be found in the Talmud and other rabbinic commentaries. It is a rare occurrence, and one that is meant to be heard not by a single prophet—as is often the case—but by an assembly, such as the one gathered at the Jordan river.
The Most High was leaving no room for conjecture with John and his disciples, among the Hebrew men and women gathered there, or among the Pharisees and Sadducees who may also have been present at this auspicious revelation. This was Israel’s Messiah!
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We close this installment of our study in Matthew with the opening verses of chapter 4:1-11.
Matthew 4:1-11
Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And after He had fasted forty days and forty nights, He then became hungry. And the tempter came and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.” But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘MAN SHALL NOT LIVE ON BREAD ALONE, BUT ON EVERY WORD THAT PROCEEDS OUT OF THE MOUTH OF GOD.’” Then the devil took Him into the holy city and had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down; for it is written, ‘HE WILL COMMAND HIS ANGELS CONCERNING YOU’; and ‘ON their HANDS THEY WILL BEAR YOU UP, SO THAT YOU WILL NOT STRIKE YOUR FOOT AGAINST A STONE.’” Jesus said to him, “On the other hand, it is written, ‘YOU SHALL NOT PUT THE LORD YOUR GOD TO THE TEST.’” Again, the devil took Him to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory; and he said to Him, “All these things I will give You, if You fall down and worship me.” Then Jesus said to him, “Go, Satan! For it is written, ‘YOU SHALL WORSHIP THE LORD YOUR GOD, AND SERVE HIM ONLY.’” Then the devil left Him; and behold, angels came and began to minister to Him.
The enemy of our souls is cunning, and is intimately familiar with the Word of God. The Author of lies quotes God’s truth to achieve his selfish purposes. Yet the Messiah’s only defense is that same Word—in all three of these instances.
When faced by attacks from the Adversary, we stand on tenuous ground if we attempt to argue with the one who appears as an “angel of light” from our own wisdom. The Bible is our only trustworthy defense and we would do well to follow the Messiah’s example in all things—particularly spiritual warfare!
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In the next issue of the Pneuma Review, we shall take a fresh look at the Beatitudes. They certainly teach what we think they teach, but given Matthew’s purpose in writing this revealing gospel, might they say more?
PR
Endnotes
1 Sound the Trumpets!, Jimmy DeYoung, Shofar Communications, 2000, p. 149
2 In a lecture by Dwight Pryor of the Center of Judaic-Christian Studies, April, 2000
3 Will the Real Jesus Please Stand, Vendyl Jones, Institute of Judaic-Christian Research, 1983, pp xvi, xvii
4 Today, the true pronunciation is lost, though Jehovah or Yahweh are sometimes used by Christians as a substitute. Hebrew writers will use the word “Lord” (sometimes inserting a “-” for the letter “o” as further respect), or the word Adonai (which is Hebrew for “Lord”).
5 The Jewish New Testament Commentary, David H. Stern, Jewish New Testament Publications, 1992, p. 16
6 Daniel Juster, Th.D., in an unpublished speech delivered at Messiah College, Granthan, PA, 1995
7 A practice discouraged by Paul in 1 Corinthians 1:12-16 All Scripture references are from the NASB unless otherwise noted.
Correction:
In Part Three of this series (as appearing in Pneuma Review Fall 2001, Vol 4 No 4), Assyria was described as modern Syria. While parts of Syria were absorbed into the Assyrian Empire, it was also largely comprised of northern Iraq and Southern Turkey.
