Vs.31,32 A great decimation of the Philistines occurred and great spoil was taken.  The Philistines had the latest weapons, such as the two-edged long iron sword.  We have no further information, but would this not be a golden opportunity for the Israelites to gather the armor of the dead Philistines? 

14:18    More correctly Saul called for the ephod – the ark had been in the land of the Philistines and returned to obscurity in Israel by this time.

14:21 The seeming casual comment that there were Hebrews with the Philistines indicates the depths to which Israel had sunk. Not only were they afraid of the Philistines but they actually went and fought with them against Israel.

14:3  In telling us that the enemy ‘fell before’ Jonathan we are seeing a fulfilment of the promise of Lev 26:8

V.2 The pomegranate tree (more like a large bush) was brought to this region from Carthage.  Its red fruit was used in making spiced wine as well as in the manufacture of Morocco leather.  Morocco leather is made from sheepskin.  The grain side of the hide is dyed red (pomegranate juice) and then the hide is tanned by hand.  This whole effect produces the unique bird's-eye pattern.

V.21 The word Hebrews here does not indicate whether these people were deserters or captives.  The Septuagint states slaves rather than Hebrews.

V.24 By making this ridiculous command, we see Saul's questionable mentality. Mental sickness (evil spirit) would later be imposed upon him by Yahweh (1Sam 16:14).

14:1-2 Notice Jonathan is involved in the battle but Saul is hiding away in a distant part of Gibeah!

14:1-2 Notice Jonathan is involved in the battle but Saul is hiding away in a distant part of Gibeah!

Vs.11,12 The mighty Philistines would not expect any under-manned and under-armed Israelites to actually attack their military post.  And so, they probably thought that Jonathan and his armorbearer were deserters.  There were men of Israel who had deserted and joined the Philistines.  With that assumption in mind, the Philistines welcomed them to come into the command post.

Vs.13,14 The Philistines’ guard was down, and Jonathan took them by surprise.  All twenty men in the command post were killed, with divine help.  The size of the command post was listed as half an acre.  The measurement half an acre was probably a colloquial expression denoting a small area and not an exact measurement..  

Vs.15,16 This unbelievable event sent shock waves through the people as the story spread. The camp of the Philistines was in commotion and disarray, and men began to disperse in all directions.  The angels of Yahweh were at work just like they would be later against the Syrians (2Kin 7:5-7).

V.19 The priest’s hands had been raised to invoke Yahweh.  Saul heard the increasing noise of confusion in the Philistine camp and perceived that the prayer had been answered.  Now was the time to act.

Vs.20-22 Israel gathered itself together, joined by the Hebrew deserters from the Philistine camp and the fugitives who were hiding in the mountains of Ephraim. 

V.24 The battle would last the whole day.  Saul had sworn an oath that none of his soldiers should eat anything until the battle was over.  This was a stupid and senseless thing to do as his soldiers would become needlessly weak.

Vs.29-31 Jonathan, who had inadvertently eaten the honey, thought his father’s oath was stupid, and said so.

V.32 The famished troops ate raw meat which contained blood. Eating blood was a sin (Deut 12:15,16).

V.35 All previous altars had been built by Samuel.

V.45 The soldiers’ conscience would not allow a foolish vow to kill the hero of the day. The king (God’s appointed) had been challenged, but there was no complaint from Yahweh.  Saul was showing poor leadership.

14:16-18 Saul would not have needed the priest to tell him what was happening if he had bothered to lead the people into battle – like the kings of the nations round about did – he would have known what was happening. It is all too easy for us to sit on the sidelines and ask others what is happening rather than getting involved ourselves.

58:11  In speaking of Israel being like ‘a watered garden’ Isaiah provides a ray of hope which Jeremiah was able to draw on when he spoke just before Israel were to be taken to Babylon – Jer 31:12

God doesn't respond well to proud demands. In v3 we see this attitude displayed by Israel. In effect they were saying "we've done good things, so why aren't you rewarding us?". Sometimes our own religion can get a bit like that don't you think?

God doesn't reward the proud for the good they've done. Instead He calls to mind all the evil they have done and brings them to account for it (v3-5). It is much better for us to quietly go about doing good without drawing attention to it. This way God will notice and reward us openly (v6-8).

58:3 So Israel, at a time when they should have been showing compassion were oppressing their brethren – see the marginal rendering and the RV marginal rendering.

58:13-14 The prophet, against the background of the way in which Israel had made a mockery of the feasts of God, speaks of the blessing that will follow on from obedience.

V.4 Contentious attitudes should give way to generous attitudes (vs.6,7). 

The formalities of worship mean nothing unless the attitude is right.  From the right attitude come the right actions.  This applies to us as it did to the Israelites.

58:4 Israel had an outward show of piety but their actions showed what was truly in their hearts. Their hearts were busy practicing mischief making the outward show of no avail at all.

V.1 A trumpet was used to demand attention (Exo 19:16).  Yahweh reacts loudly against hypocrisy.

V.2 Israel went through the motions of worship thinking that they were pious, yet their action did not back them up (Prov 25:14).  

V.3 Israel was fasting in mock modesty but feeling self-satisfied (Prov 16:5).

V.5 Fasting for show instead of for humble intent is not acceptable to Yahweh (Matt 6:16-18).

Vs.6,7 Yahweh demands justice not religious window dressing (Psa 82:3).

V.8 This verse makes an allusion to Yahweh’s care of His people as they exited Egypt (Exo 14:19,20).

V.10 See Psa 37:6; 112:4.

V.11 See Isa 41:17,18.

V.12 Here is an allusion to the Kingdom age (Amos 9:11,12).

Vs.13,14 The heritage of Jacob is the Promised Land (Gen 13:15; Psa 135:12).

It is natural, when appraising our worship, to focus on what we do for God. So we might ask the question in v3 "we've worshipped you in the way you asked, so why isn't his enough for You?". But our focus instead should be to take the rest of the advice in this chapter to heart (v6-7, 9-10, and 13) for which the rewards are great (v8-9, 11,14).

58:3 So Israel fasted so that God could see their behaviour. How often do we do things to appear good in God’s eyes? We should do things because we love Him.

1 v.1 - The mention of David and Abraham marks the two important milestones in the purpose of God. Abraham, through whom the promises were given and David the king to whom further promises were given. Both of these men had promises made to them of a singular seed who was to come [Genesis 21:12 2 Samuel 7:12] Both of these promises are applied in the New Testament to Jesus. Genesis 21 in [Romans 9:7] and 2 Samuel [Hebrews 1:5] Notice the preponderance of occasion where Jesus is spoken of as The son of David in Matthew. Matthew 1:1,20 9:27 12:23 15:22 20:30,31 21:9,15 Compared with Mark and Luke. [Mark 10:47,48 Luke 3:31 18:38,39] It is a phrase never found in John.

1 v.3 - Whilst it is not strictly necessary to record the twin son that Tamar bare to Judah he is here. [Numbers 26:20 21 1 Chronicles 2:3 4] Show that Zara is the twin son of Judah by Tamar. The  inclusion of Pharez in the line would indicate that Judah took Tamar to be his wife. Thus, I presume, the second son is mentioned here to make the point clear that the irregularity was cleared up. This section of the genealogy quotes exactly [Ruth 4:18 - 20] In fact it is the only part of the family tree in Matthew which can be seen to be drawn from a specific area of the Old Testament.

2 v.4-5 - The fact that the priests and scribes correctly identified the birthplace of Messiah as Bethlehem only indicates that they sent the 'wise men' in that direction. There is no indication that Jesus was still in Bethlehem. Indeed eight days after his birth he was brought to Jerusalem to be circumcised. [Luke 2:21 - 24] Then he was taken to Nazareth by his parents [Luke 2:39] The wise men arrived to see Jesus 'in the house' [Matthew 2:14] They were then warned not to go back to Herod [Matthew 2:12] Joseph was warned that He should take Jesus to Egypt. [Matthew 2:13 - 15] So we can conclude that the visit by the 'wise men' was not at Bethlehem, but rather at Nazareth. That is why, having received directions to Bethlehem from the scribes. [Matthew 2:8] The star still guided them on their way. [Matthew 2:9]

1:1 In describing Jesus as The son of Abraham the son of David we are instructed to look for fulfilments of the promises to both these individuals in Matthew's gospel

Ch 2 - Matthew records the visit of the wise men whilst Luke records the visit of the shepherds. These two events took place some time apart. The wise men visited Jesus when the family had gone back to Bethlehem.

1:25 Notice the precision 'he called his name ...' which observes the command of the angel 'thou shalt call ...' (Matthew 1:21)

ch 2 - There are a number of parallels between the narrative of the birth and death of Jesus.

This fits in with the reason for his name as given in Matthew 1:21

Having gone through the entire forty two generations leading up to Christ, we find in verse 16 that they were the forefathers of Joseph, whom in verse 25 we’re told had nothing to do with the birth of Christ!
After tracing Joseph right back to his forefather Abraham, in verse 20 the angel calls him the son of David, when surely Abraham was more significant?
In verse 23 we’re told that “they shall call his name Immanuel..”, and then in verse 25 they name him Jesus!

These things must have been put there by God to make us think about them, but why?

A further point to ponder:
A virgin conceiving isn’t actually uncommon. We should not mistake conception with birth. When this prophecy was made in the time of Isaiah, the people may not have been expecting a miracle. The prophecy may have had its fulfilment immediatly in Hezekiah’s mother. Here in Matthew the wording of the prophecy is changed from “the virgin shall conceive and bear a son” (Isaiah) to “the virgin shall be with child”, which is of course a miracle!

Did you know all the women mentioned in the genealogy of Jesus weren’t virgins, neither were they with their first partners when they begat their sons, except for Mary?

ch.2

2:1-6 Here we find the reason why Jesus is called “the son of David” in Chapter 1.  Jesus is shown to be the promised king of Micah 5v2.  But why in verse 3 was all Jerusalem, including Herod, troubled at the thought of the promised Messiah coming?  Surely they should have been glad?  Herod's plan to kill the baby seems to have been done through popular demand (see verse 4).

The prophecy in verse 6 may give us a clue to this: “..a ruler who will shepherd My people Israel”.  Would this remind the current shepherds of Israel that if the true shepherd were to come, then their deeds would be exposed? There is a clue in the word “shepherd”, which doesn’t appear in the quotation from Micah. The word of God seems to be giving us a flag to where we ought to look for illumination. In the search the scribes made of Christ in the books of the law, they would have found Jeremiah 23:1-6 which shows that wrath would be executed on the evil shepherds by the promised King, and replaced by good shepherds. Note how this prophecy is in the context of the return of the Jews to their own land, an event which had recently occurred.

A further point to ponder:
In verse 23 we find that the prophet had said “he shall be called a Nazarene”. As far as I know the only place where we can find this is Judges 13:5 speaking of the birth of Samson. How can this apply to Christ if it was spoken of Samson, or am I looking in the wrong passage of scripture?

1 - The five women :3,5,6,16 all could be described as being unsuitable women to be in the line of Christ. Matthew could have left them our and the genealogy would have been complete. Therefore we have to conclude that the inclusion of these women is significant. It would, at least, teach the Jews, that their perception of purity in a genealogy was unsound. One wonders how often we judge people on the basis of their pedigree.

2  - Herod was an Idumean – that is a descendant of Abraham through Esau. So the antipathy Herod had towards Jesus was the continual hatred of Edom of Israel.

Matt 2  From the very first there was indifference on the part of some towards Christ, and from others out and out hostility V.3-8  But it needed another thirty years, and another Herod before their scheme came to fruition. We are comforted how ever, that the hostility Christ incountered will be done away with in the near future with His return, and establishment of His Kingdom.

The five women Matt 1:3,5,5,6,16all could be described as being unsuitable women to be in the line of Christ. Matthew could have left them our and the genealogy would have been complete. Therefore we have to conclude that the inclusion of these women is significant. It would, at least, teach the Jews, that their perception of purity in a genealogy was unsound. One wonders how often we judge people on the basis of their pedigree.

2:11 Matthew uses the word 'house' to speak of the place where the Magi worshipped Jesus. Luke 2:7calls the place an 'inn' where the shepherds saw Jesus. Thus the precision of Scripture demands that the two visitations occurred at different places.

1:22 This is the first of many times that Matthew uses the phrase 'that it might be fulfilled' or a similar phrase. It always worth following up the quotation which will be found noted in the marginal references. Maybe it would be helpful to underline the phrase whenever it occurs in your Bible.

2:5-6   That the religious leaders were able to cite Mic 5:2 to show where Messiah would be born shows that there was an active interest in, and Bible knowledge of, Messiah’s birthplace. Their problem was that they did not know the true nature of messiah – they anticipated a conquering king, not a sacrificial lamb.

1:20 Joseph who was ‘just’ did not rush thoughtless into dealing with the matter of Mary being pregnant. He ‘thought on those things’. Herein a lesson for us. Notice the first thing he did was not to talk about it with others. He applied his mind to the Biblical principles before doing anything. How we could learn from that! It is all too easy to make a snap decision – after all the case was quite clear with Mary. She s with child and the aw was very clean on this point. Of course the relevant thing was that the circumstances need to be thought through. It was the circumstances which cleared Mary of guilt though Joseph did not know this when he ‘thought’ about the issue. We would benefit from doing likewise, even when the matter seems so clear cut.

Prophecies Concerning Jesus (lesson 19 of 20 from "Outline of Basic Bible Teachings" by Wes Booker)

I. His birthplace - Mic 5:2 compare Matt 2:1

II. His preaching of the gospel and healing of the sick - Isa 61:1-2;42:6-7 compare Matt 4:23

III. His wisdom, understanding, and unique righteousness - Isa 11:1-5;Psa 45:2,6,7 compare Heb 1:8-9

IV. His death as a sacrifice for sin. Especially Isa 53 and Psa 22. Specifics:  

     A. He was betrayed for thirty pieces of silver - Zech 11:12-13 compare Matt 27:1-10   B. He was betrayed by Judas, his own "familiar friend" - Psa 55:12-14; 41:9 compare John 18:1-6   C. He was despised and rejected - Isa 53:2-3 compare Matt 27:20-23   D. He did not open his mouth in retaliation - Isa 53:7 compare Matt 27:12-14; 1Pet 2:21-23   E. He was mocked - Psa 69:4,7-12; 22:6-8 compare Matt 27:27-31,39-44   F. The means of his death - crucifixion preceded by wounding and flogging - Isa 53:4-5;Psa 22:16;Zech 12:10;13:6 (KJV) compare John 19:1-3,16-18   G. Soldiers casting lots for his robe - Psa 22:18 compare John 19:24   H. He was crucified among thieves and buried in a rich man's tomb - Isa 53:9 compare Matt 27:38,57-60

V. His resurrection to eternal life - Isa 53:10-12;Psa 22:22-31;Psa 16:10-11 compare Acts 2:29-36;1Cor 15:3-8

VI. His ascension to heaven - Psa 110:1 compare Acts 1:9-11

As you read through the Gospels, note how many prophecies about Jesus were made in the Old Testament (Luke 24:27).

1:21,25 Jesus is the Greek form of the Hebrew yeshua which means Yah saves. The Greek for wise men is magi from which the word magic comes.

1:22 fulfils Isa 7:14.

2:1 Herod the Great was the Edomite who was made king by the Romans.  Jesus was born in the year of his death.  This fulfils the prophecy of Gen 49:10. 

2:5,6 fulfils Mic 5:2.

2:15 fulfils Hos 11:1.

2:17,18 fulfils Jer 31:15.

2:22 Archelaus took over from his father Herod the Great.  However, the Romans gave him the position of ethnarch over Judea, Samaria, and Idumea.  He was never granted the position of king. Archelaus did such an unfavorable job of governing that the Romans banished him to Vienne in Gaul.  After that, the Romans governed the area as a Roman province.  Thus, Gen 49:10 remained true.

2:2 By the time Jesus was born there had been a long time since the promise of ‘Messiah the prince’ Dan 9:25 – and a time period was specified. We also know that there were people at the time of Jesus’ birth looking for ‘the consolation of Israel’ – Luke 2:25– and others looking for ‘the kingdom of God’ - Luke 2:51 so the question about the birth place of ‘the king of the Jews’ was not really an unusual question to ask – doubtless it was a topic of conversation among the faithful Jews at that time.