DEC 22
LETS GET READY TO LEARN!
2 Tim 2 :15
Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
Proverbs 4:6-7
Do not forsake wisdom, and she will protect you;
love her, and she will watch over you.
The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom.
Though it cost all you have, get understanding.
2 Timothy 3:16-17
16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
History //// HIS-STORY
Ever noticed AD//BC? They’ve actually changed it to CE - BCE because they’re so afraid of their maker.
Matthew 1-2.
Key History -
1. THE MAGI
Who were the magi?
There were the hereditary priesthood of the Medes.
A History of Zoroastrianism, Vol. I, Leiden: Brill, pp. 10–11
Daniel 2.
- Made head of the “wise men” - The Magi
48 Then the king placed Daniel in a high position and lavished many gifts on him. He made him ruler over the entire province of Babylon and placed him in charge of all its wise men.
Daniel being made their head and teaching it to them is the only reason we know of that could lead to the Magi knowing Hebrew prophecy, respecting it, and having reverence for their King. as seen in Chapter 2 verse 6.
- The magi had A LOT of power. They outlasted many empire changes. Like the Babylonians and the Persians etc. They were considered Kingmakers. If you wanted to overthrow the empire, you had to get the Magi on your side.
2. JESUS
His History.
Secular consensus:
There was definitely a guy named Jesus, He was baptized by John the baptist and was crucified under order of pontious pilate.
- they argue about everything else.
- biblical minimalism is not regarded as a respectable view. There is too much evidence that the Bible lines up with known history
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biblical_minimalism
In the Matthew account alone there are 5 prophecies He fulfills just as an infant!
3. HE SHALL BE A NAZARENE?
THE PUN PROPHECY.
Matthew 2:23 // and came and lived in a city
called Nazareth; that it might be
fulfilled which was spoken through the
prophets: "He will be called a Nazarene."
Isaiah 53:2
He grew up before him like a tender shoot,
and like a root out of dry ground.
Isaiah 11:1
A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse;
from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.
The Hebrew for shoot is nasir, And this word refers to the messiah in the Dead Sea scrolls!
Craig S. Keener. A commentary on the Gospel of Matthew.Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1999. pg. 114
Nazereth’s etymology is FROM the word Nasir, meaning branch.
4. The donkey (thanks Maghan) [no Donkey!]
The journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem
2 In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. 2 (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3 And everyone went to their own town to register.
4 So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. 5 He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. 6 While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, 7 and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them
It’s traditional, as opposed to scripture and appears in the non-canonical gospel of James.
The journey was 90 miles!
5. The Genocide
Herod orders the murder of all the children under 2. This is terrible. Historians actually contest this as there is no mention of it anywhere outside of Matthew’s gospel. The thing is… Bethlehem had about 300 people as it’s population. Maybe 4-5 kids that age… So not exactly something that would be written of by historians of the time.
Historians also attack this is simply Matthew making something up so Jesus fulfills another model of Moses. This in itself show ignorance of prophecy. Prophecy is pattern! Jesus models Moses in many ways because that is how God ordained His Story /// History. It is pattern. The Old Testament is in the New Testament revealed and the new is in the old concealed.
6. The Census?
Luke 2:1
2 In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. 2 (This was the first census that took place while[a] Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3 And everyone went to their own town to register.
6AD - Census
4BC - Herod’s death?
These are based on Emil Schürer from 1910 & Josephus (born 37AD)
Notice that neither of these guys were alive at the time? Luke was though. Apparently he was born in 0AD, was one of the 70 apostles and I would suggest as the only one alive at the same time as Jesus, far more reliable.
Why do people attack Luke’s authorship? I dug really hard into this and it’s almost funny enough to be a joke. Luke, the gentile physician as described in Colossians 4:14, has the supposed issue of being mentioned in Colossians. Apparently Colossians is a forgery because Paul used 34 words he’d never used in one of his previous letters, and that the Jewish & Gentile relations weren’t described hostile enough to be written by Paul. This is almost monty python witch hunt level reasoning.