For a description of the (Y2) reading plan, see the “About” page.
Matt. 2
Matthew continues on his quest to prove Jesus was the promised Messiah, according to scripture. He started with Jesus’ genealogy. He then showed fulfillment of geography prophecies. Matthew doesn’t get into much detail about the birth of Jesus because his goal is not to simply record events. He mentioned the story of the visiting Magi because this story explains the geography situation. Per prophecy, Jesus was born in Bethlehem, was later brought out of Egypt, and settled in Nazareth on His return to Israel.
The story of the Magi also contains the explanation for Harod’s murder of all the young boys in Bethlehem. This, too, was prophesied, and it is an event that ties Jesus’ birth to the birth of Moses many years prior. This is significant because Moses is one of the many Old Testament depictions of who Messiah was to be. Though he was born in Egypt, he was essentially given to the Egyptians to raise in order to save his life. Later, he sacrificed his own life in many ways to bring God’s people out of slavery. And He was a mediator between God and the people on their journey through the wilderness. Perhaps most significantly, though, is that it was through Moses that God brought us the covenant of the Law – the covenant that Jesus fulfilled so that, through Him, God could bring us the covenant of grace.
Is. 37-38
What two things did King Hezekiah do in response to Assyria’s threats? How do you respond to threatening situations? What was Hezekiah’s response to the news of his impending death? To his miraculous healing? Hezekiah turned to God in prayer in his distress both times. However, he was not at the center of his own prayers – God was. With the Assyrians, Hezekiah did not cry out to God that he was in distress. Instead, he said that Sennacherib had ridiculed the living God. Though Hezekiah asked for deliverance, he asked, “so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you, LORD, are the only God.” (Is. 37:20b).
Then, when Hezekiah became ill and learned he would not live, he simply asked God to remember his faithful, wholehearted devotion to Him. He obviously was not happy about the situation, but there seemed to be a humble willingness to accept God’s decision. I have to think that Hezekiah did not get angry with God because God responds to a humble heart, not to the pride of anger. Also, his healing led to a humble prayer of gratitude and praise. That makes me think that he was not set in his mind that he deserved to live.
I guess the takeaway for me is that I need to consciously remain humble in my prayers. The fact that I can pray to God at all and that he hears me is humbling enough, when you think about it. Far too often, though, we treat God like some kind of general store and get upset when His customer service isn’t all we expect it to be. The fact of the matter, however, is that every good thing God grants in my life is an undeserved blessing. I would do well to remember that.
Prov. 22
If you were going to put one of these proverbs on a plaque and hang it on your wall, which one would it be? Why? “The prudent see danger and take refuge, but the simple keep going and pay the penalty.” (Pr. 22:3). When I read this verse this morning, it somehow hit me a little more than surface deep. What I mean is that I saw more than merely a physical application for the verse. What came to mind were the many verses declaring that God is our refuge. This changed the verse a bit for me. It became, “The prudent see the danger in going their own way and run to God for refuge, but the simple go on without Him and pay the penalty.”