Summer 2011 Bible Study: Week 1 Day 2

Hello! Welcome to day two! Here in Colorado, we have had LOTS of rain and I have been praying for the summer to be full of warm days and relaxing nights! I can remember spending the summers by the pool has a kid. My sisters and I would stuff the pool bag full of towels and toys and load the cooler full of food and pop; we would grab some sunscreen and some money to purchase candy at the neighborhood gas station and head off to the pool. We would pick out our spot, layout our towels on some chairs and jump right in… we would literally spent the day there, we would swim, eat, swim some more and eat some more. To this day, there is nothing I love more in the summer than the warmth of concrete and the smell of a pool. There have been times that I have been known to just lay down on some warm concrete and rest for a while. There is something so fun and carefree about the summer, so I am excited to spend this summer enjoying warm concrete and learning about Jesus. Welcome to summer my friends! I hope your summer is full of warm days, relaxing nights and JESUS.

Lord, teach me, about your Word. Teach me to follow your Word. Teach me to love your Word. Teach me about you. Give me understanding as I begin to study about your Son, Jesus. Direct me in the path of your Word so that I might find delight within the pages I read and study. Open my eyes to see and open my ears to hear from you today. Amen.

We are going to dive into the Word, so turn with me to Matthew, chapter 2.

Take a few minutes and read Matthew 2: 1-12

Now, I might as well let you in on a little secret…. Over the next 13 weeks we are going to be hopping all over the Word, so get your book marks or sticky notes ready! Go ahead and place a marker in Matthew and let’s get ready to move around the Word.

I think it is important to understand the birth place of Jesus, because it is one of those things that connect the Old Testament to the New Testament. The significance behind Jesus’ birthplace is one of my favorite things about Him.

So, let’s turn to Luke 2:1-7. Take a few minutes and read Luke 2:1-7

Now, turn with me to Micah 5:2 and take a few minutes and read His Word.

Are you starting to see how the Lord has planned the birth of His one and only Son down the details? And these details were set way before the time had come for Mary to give birth. I find His attention to detail and His planning skills admirable.

The Creator of the Universe, the Father of our Savior is a planner! Praise HIM! From one planner to another, it makes my color coded calendar loving heart so happy to know that He as every detail under control!

So, let’s continue in Matthew, return to Matthew 2.

Take a few minutes and read Matthew 2:7-12.

I grew up singing the “We Three Kings of Orient Are” song at Christmas time. I grew up knowing that the Three Wise Men came to visit Jesus and brought Him gifts. But I didn’t really know more than that. Until now…

The Word refers to the “wise men” as Magi, and come to find out; the Word doesn’t really give us much information on these men, but the information that it does give us, is clear. I assumed there were only three of them, because of the three gifts that were given; gold, incense and myrrh. But, the Word, doesn’t say that there were only three, so we could assume there were more than came with the three who presented the gifts.

Matthew 2:2 tells us that the Magi saw his star in the east. Growing up hearing the Christmas Story, the Birth Story of Jesus, I never really paid attention to that detail, until now. Now, turn with me to Numbers 24:17.

I love that a “star will come out of Jacob”, return to Matthew 1:1-2… do you notice who happens to be in the genealogy of our Sweet Jesus? JACOB! So, we know that the Magi were wise men from “the East” which, one could assume that they most likely came from Persia, which means they traveled 800 – 900 miles to see our Sweet Jesus.

The tremendous distance they had to travel to see Sweet Jesus leads me to another note I never noticed while researching this topic, was that Matthew 2:11 says that the men visited and worshipped Jesus in a house, but he was born in a stable. Which leads to the fact that the Magi came to visit our Sweet Jesus, days, months or even years after His birth. A few commentaries suggest that Jesus was one or two years old at this time. So by the time the Magi came to visit Sweet Jesus, Joseph and Mary had gotten married, they were obviously living in a home and had the intention to stay in Bethlehem for a while.

Before we move onto the last half of Matthew, chapter 2, I want to spend some time looking at the kinds of gifts the Magi brought to our Sweet Jesus because I believe they have significance to them. After all, it is not like you can bring a fabulous onesie and a cute pair of Jesus as a gift to the Savior of the World… right?

Matthew 2:11 tells us that “upon coming to the house, they say the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, and of incense and of myrrh.”

I had the privilege of studying the Tabernacle in the Old Testament for several weeks this fall and I am amazed at the preciousness of Gold within the Word. Turn with me to Exodus 25:10-17, read over the passage. It is in this passage of scripture that we learn about the Ark of the Covenant . You see, during this passage of Scripture, God made a covenant with the children of Israel through His servant Moses. As a sign of His covenant, He had the Israelites made a box, according to His own design and instructed them to place the stone tablets containing the Ten Commandments in there. This box, was called an “ark” and it was made of acacia wood and overlaid with gold.

Now, one of my most beloved facts about the Ark of the Covenant is that there was an “atonement cover” was traditionally referred to as the “mercy seat”. The term “mercy seat” comes from a Hebrew word meaning “to cover, appease, cleanse, cancel or make atonement for” and it was here that the high priest, would sprinkle blood of a sacrificed animal onto the “mercy seat” to atone for the sins of himself and the sins of Israelites. Now, the high priest would only enter the Holy of Hollies, the place in the Tabernacle where the Ark of the Covenant was kept, once a year.

I find it interesting that one of the very first gifts our Sweet Jesus got was gold, it symbolizes Jesus’ divinity, the fact that He is God in the flesh, the human mercy seat, the atonement for our sins. Oh how I love the Word of the Lord and all it has to teach us about our Sweet Jesus!

Now, hang with me, we are going to look into the meaning of the gift of incense, often called frankincense. Again, we are going to spend some time hopping into the Old Testament, so turn back to Exodus with me and read Exodus 30:34-38. Frankincense is a white resign or gum that is obtained from a tree and is highly fragrant when burnt. It is here that we learn that frankincense is a symbol of holiness and righteousness. I am not sure about you, but two words that I would use to describe my Sweet Jesus is HOLY and RIGHTEOUS, so the gift of frankincense was symbolic of Sweet Jesus’ willingness to become a sacrifice, holy and pleasing to the Lord.

And now, for the final gift, myrrh. Myrrh was a spice and it was often used in embalming and sometimes added to wine to form a drink, often bitter in taste and sometimes referred to as gall.

Matthew 27:34 and Mark 15:23 state that our Sweet Jesus was given this drink as He hung on the cross, atoning for our sin as a holy and righteous, willing sacrifice. I believe the gift of myrrh symbolizes the suffering, bitterness and agony that our Sweet Jesus would endure on our behalf.

The birth place, the star of Jacob and the very gifts our Sweet Jesus was given have significant meaning and tells us more about who HE really is.

We are going to spend a few minutes looking at the last few verse in Matthew 2:13-23, before we end our time together today. Take a few minutes and read Matthew 2:13-23. This portion of scripture starts with the second dream/vision Joseph received from the Lord, our God. This dream told him to protect our Sweet Jesus, even though he was not Jesus’ biological father, he was His legal father and was therefore responsible for his safety and wellbeing.

Hosea 11:1 tells us “When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son.” And Matthew 2:14-15 tells us that Joseph took Mary and Jesus out of Egypt in the night. As we read on in Matthew2:16-23, we are told that Herod, the king of the Jews, had become obsessed with killing Jesus so he ordered all the first born sons under the age of two, to be killed.

Again, another Old Testament hop, turn with me to Jeremiah 31:15, take a moment and read what the Word has to day. Rachel, was Joacob’s favorite wife, and was the symbolic mother of the northern tribes. The significance of this verse in Matthew describes the mourning of the mothers in Bethlehem as their sons were killed.

In Matthew 2:19-23 we learn that Harod had died and the Lord speared to Joseph in a dream once again. And this time, Joseph moved Mary and Jesus to Israel, however they didn’t stay put long, they went on and ended up living in Nazareth.

I love how the Word of the Lord is relevant, I am not sure about you but there is nothing like the stress of moving with a small child. I love that even as a baby, Jesus can relate to those of us who have had to move around a lot.

We are going to continue to learn about who Jesus is within the Word and I cannot wait to see where He takes us on this adventure together over the next 13 weeks!

Before we close in prayer, leave a comment today so that we can get to know those who are in the Word with us each day – answer this question: What are your summer plans, are you moving around? If you are in school, what grade will you be in next year?

Lord, I praise you for your Son, your plan for His life before He was born. I love that you knit Him together in His mother’s womb and You knew the path His life would take. I trust that You know every detail in my life, just as You had planned every detail of Your Son’s life. Your word is sweet to me, sweeter than honey. I love that I can gain understanding of whom You are, who Your Son is within your Word. Please keep me from sin. Keep Your Word near to my heart and mind. Bless me with love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness and self-control as I go on about my day today. Amen.