Hosea 11:1. This verse reads, "When Israel was a child, then I
loved him, and called my son out of Egypt." The reader may be
surprised to learn that some Christians take this verse to be
Christological, despite the fact that Hosea is clearly doing nothing
more than recounting the Exodus from Egypt. (Precedent for calling
Israel God's son is found in Exodus 4:22, where Moses is instructed to
tell Pharaoh, "Thus saith the L-rd, Israel is my son, my
firstborn.") Yet Matthew quotes this verse: "And when they
[the Magi] were departed, behold, the angel of the L-rd appeareth to
Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his
mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word:
for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him. When he arose, he
took the young child and his mother by night, and departed into Egypt:
and was there until the death of Herod: that it might be fulfilled which
was spoken of the L-rd by the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I
called my son". The passage from Hosea refers so obviously to the
Exodus from Egypt that very few Christians quote it today. E. W.
Hengstenberg, whose book, "The Christology of the Old
Testament", goes into great detail about passages from the Hebrew
Scriptures which are purported to be Christological, is so embarrassed
by Matthew's obvious misunderstanding of the Scriptures that he doesn't
even mention Hosea 11:1. Amazingly, however, some Christians (even some
pastors and Messianic rabbis) still quote it.
Matthew really ought to have known better than to have an angel tell
Joseph to take the Messiah and his mother out of the Promised Land and
into Egypt for fear of King Herod. One does not have to read very far
into the Bible to see that G-d does not look kindly on those who seek to
return to Egypt for fear of the inhabitants of the Promised Land (see,
for instance, Numbers 14). G-d was adamant that we were never to return
to Egypt: "But he [the king whom we would set over ourselves] shall
not multiply horses to himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt,
to the end that he should multiply horses: forasmuch as the L-rd hath
said unto you, Ye shall henceforth return no more that way"
(Deuteronomy 17:16). When the Chaldeans took Jerusalem, Jeremiah warned
the remnant of Judah against returning to Egypt: "For thus saith
the L-rd of hosts, the G-d of Israel; as mine anger and my fury hath
been poured forth upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem; so shall my fury be
poured forth upon you, when ye shall enter into Egypt: and ye shall be
an execration, and an astonishment, and a curse, and a reproach; and ye
shall see this place no more". What happened during Jesus's
childhood that made G-d change His mind about Egypt?
A further point regarding Matthew's narrative bears mentioning. Look
at what he does with Joseph's decision to take Jesus from Egypt to
Nazareth: "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." The prophets, however, never even mentioned the city
of Nazareth or Nazarenes. Matthew was either poorly educated or
deliberately lying.
Messianic Biblical position as written by Shalach Ministries: |
It is important to understand whenever interpreting prophecy
there are a few basic concepts that must be adhered to:
1. Give only one meaning to a Scripture unless it is
made clear that a double
meaning should be inferred.
2. Adhere to the rule of "Double
Reference" where applicable.
3. Comply with the rule of "Prophetic
Perspective".
In Genesis 3:15 we see the first use of the "Law of Double
Reference", "And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel."
The serpent is the visible object addressed, but Satan is the
invisible person being addressed. The seed of the serpent
refers to the natural snakes as well as the ungodly men who are
called the children of Satan. (John 8:44; I John
3:8-10). As a result of God's curse upon the serpent,
there is a natural enmity between the seed of the woman and the
seed of the serpent (John 15:18; Galatians 4:29; I John
3:12). The seed of the woman refers to the natural
descendants of Eve and to one seed in particular, YESHUA,
who is to destroy all sin and Satan.
In the law of double reference the visible person or entity is
immediately addressed while at the same time an invisible person
or entity is also being referred to. For example, in
Isaiah 14:12-14, "How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!
For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:
I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High."
In this passage it is clear that both Satan an the king of
Babylon are to be understood as the point of reference.
This could not have been only Babylon because it refers also to
the earthly rule of Lucifer before the days of Adam.
Moreover, it could not have been since Adam that Lucifer ruled
the Earth and fell from Heaven, for he was already a fallen
angel before Adam was ever created. As such, Satan
regained dominion of the Earth during the days of Adam and has
been the "prince" of this world ever since.
Another example of the law of double reference is taken from the
New Testament, "But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of
men" (Matthew 16:23). In this passage Yeshua did
not actually mean that Peter himself was the literal Satan, but
was being used as an instrument to further Satan's
purpose. As such, part of the passage refers to an earthly
person while the other part can only refer to the object of an
invisible person.
The "Law of Prophetic Perspective" is that of
recording future events as though they were continuous and
successive, when in fact, the actual fulfillment of such
prophesied events may be thousands of years apart. For
example in Isaiah 61:1-3, "The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the
LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;
To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn;
To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the
LORD, that he might be glorified."
This passage is again quoted in Luke 4:17-20 by Yeshua.
Although, whenever Yeshua read this passage He stopped His
reading of the prophecy at the words, "the acceptable
year of the Lord." He then closed the book and
remarked, "This day is this Scripture fulfilled in your
ears." If Yeshua had continued reading from this
prophecy and had said, "and the day of vengeance of our
God," and would have declared that this also was
fulfilled that day, His statement would have been untrue.
Why? It is well noted that the awful and dreadful
"Day of the Lord" has not yet come, and will not come
until the future Tribulation. In fact, there has been
approximately 2,000 years elapsed since Jesus made this
prophetic utterance.
To better describe what the prophets saw and how they placed
them into perspective let us look a quote by Finis Jennings Dake
from his book "God's Plan For Man":
"Prophets see things in the same
vision as one would look at a distant range of mountain peaks
where the valleys between them are not seen. One must
learn to take each separate event in prophecy and collect
together all that is said about it in all the Bible and see when
it will be fulfilled in connection with other events. This
is rightly dividing the Word of Truth (II Timothy 2:15).
One main thing to keep in mind in all prophecy is the history of
the writer and his times and the circumstances under which he
wrote. One must understand the exact position of the
writer as to the age in which he lived and the purpose of his
predictions and the people to whom he wrote and the subject of
his message. With a knowledge of the historical
background, the manners and customs of the age and of people to
whom he wrote, the peculiar idioms and human expressions of his
times, and the purpose he had in view, there cannot possibly be
any misunderstanding of one thing about which any one of them
writes."
With regard to Jesus being called a Nazarene as quoted in
Matthew 2:23, "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."
This epithet (Gr. Nazaraios) is applied to Christ only once in
Matthew 2:23 and in all other cases the word is rendered "of Nazareth"
Mark 1:24;10:47;14:67 etc. When this Greek designation was at first applied to our Lord, it was meant simply to denote the place of
His residence. In the course of time the word became a term of reproach.
Thus, the word "Nazarene" carries with it an allusion to those prophecies which speak of Christ as "despised of men"
Isaiah 53:3. Some, however, think that in this name there is
also an allusion to the Hebrew word "netser", which signifies a branch or sprout.
It is this ideology that is thus applied to the Messiah in
Isaiah 11:1, i.e., He whom the prophets called the "Netse", the "Branch.".
Moreover, the followers of Christ were called "the sect of Nazarenes"
in Acts 24:5.
In summary, all over Palestine and Syria this name is still given to
Christians today. |
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