Bible Study on Matthew 4, verses 1 to 11, part 2, the Devil and Christ in the wilderness

 

Satan wishes to have Jesus take the Crown before the Cross and subvert His mission as Saviour of the world. He uses His human hunger to begin demanding that He turn stones to bread but Jesus answers with Scripture.

 

Deuteronomy 8:3  And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live.

 

Then, Satan tempts Him with power and the glory of the kingdoms of the world. God has given those over to Satan and the lowest of men rule over nations through him as the god of this world system (2Corinthians 4:4). He demands worship.

 

Daniel 4:17  This matter is by the decree of the watchers, and the demand by the word of the holy ones: to the intent that the living may know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will, and setteth up over it the basest of men.

 

One day Jesus will seize these kingdoms.

 

Revelation 11:15  And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.

 

Christ replies with Biblical truth.

 

Deuteronomy 6:13  Thou shalt fear the LORD thy God, and serve him, and shalt swear by his name.

 

Deuteronomy 10:20  Thou shalt fear the LORD thy God; him shalt thou serve, and to him shalt thou cleave, and swear by his name.

 

Satan then tries to tempt Him with presuming on God, to his sense of self-preservation and tries to create a sense of needing to prove at this time His relationship with God the Father. He quotes:

 

Psalm 91:11  For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. 12  They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.

 

Jesus replies by alluding to this Scripture.

 

Deuteronomy 6:16  Ye shall not tempt the LORD your God, as ye tempted him in Massah.

 

In these things, Satan tempted Christ with the lust of the flesh regarding hunger [see Deuteronomy 12:15 for lust and hunger], the lust of the eyes regarding power and glory of man’s kingdom, and the pride of life with the temptation to display His supernatural power.

 

These are types of the temptation that disobedience to God put in the hearts and minds, the spirits, of Adam and Eve.

 

Genesis 3:6  And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.

 

It is what the Christian must face and oppose to truly love and serve God.

 

1John 2:15  Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16  For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.

 

On a note of personal opinion I think these passages teach us that it is inconsistent with being a Christian to be constantly employed with seeking to satisfy our physical desires, to seek political power for self-glorification, or to presume on God’s mercy and love for us.

 

Satan, who understood the prophecies concerning the Messiah in the Old Testament certainly better than the Jews or us, having failed in his desire to subvert Christ’s mission, leaves Him.”

 

We don’t know who these angels were who ministered to Christ. We don’t know who they represented. Would these be the angels of Old Testament prophets whose physical existence was in Heaven? We don’t know but I suspect we’ll find out.

Bible Study on Genesis 31, verses 17 to 24, Jacob and family flee Laban

 

Genesis 31:17 ¶  Then Jacob rose up, and set his sons and his wives upon camels; 18  And he carried away all his cattle, and all his goods which he had gotten, the cattle of his getting, which he had gotten in Padanaram, for to go to Isaac his father in the land of Canaan. 19  And Laban went to shear his sheep: and Rachel had stolen the images that were her father’s. 20  And Jacob stole away unawares to Laban the Syrian, in that he told him not that he fled. 21  So he fled with all that he had; and he rose up, and passed over the river, and set his face toward the mount Gilead. 22  And it was told Laban on the third day that Jacob was fled. 23  And he took his brethren with him, and pursued after him seven days’ journey; and they overtook him in the mount Gilead. 24  And God came to Laban the Syrian in a dream by night, and said unto him, Take heed that thou speak not to Jacob either good or bad.

In the last passage we saw that God had kept Laban from doing Jacob harm.

7  And your father hath deceived me, and changed my wages ten times; but God suffered him not to hurt me.

We also saw in Abraham and Isaac’s lives how God had protected them from the power of others to do them harm. Jacob and his family are going to make their escape from Laban on camels, a common conveyance in those days. He drove the sheep he had won for himself and carried all of his goods with him. His intention was to return to Isaac in the land of Canaan. Laban, not aware that his daughters and son-in-law had taken off went to shear his own sheep and did not know for three days that Jacob left. He took off after Jacob’s party with plenty of backup. Laban’s force overtook Jacob’s party at Mount Gilead. But, God came to Laban in a dream, as He had come to Abimelech reported back in chapter 20, and warned him not to harm Jacob. In fact, just leave him alone.

Rachel had stolen Laban’s household gods, little figurines used for worship in this world. See comments on 4:16-18. Remember that there were gods a family worshipped and a god the community worshipped if they lived in a city. Each family had their own gods which represented the worship of ancestors. Living under the government of the family with the father as head and priest, the chief domestic divinities were formed from this ancestor worship for protection and success. They were intensely personal to the family and their theft would have been regarded as a great sin against the father of the family. It is also important to note that after the Flood when these gods were formed it was also possible to believe in a more powerful god, a unifying entity, such as a Zeus or a Baal or even Jehovah God, the LORD of the Bible, creator of all things, as well as your household images.[1] This is what happened and this is part of what Jehovah God was undoing by bringing men back from this idolatry after the Flood based in part on the added worship of mighty… men of renown, the giants from whom one can suppose that the famous gods of the ancient world were formed, and ancestors like Noah and Shem.

So, you can see that Rachel had committed a grievous wrong in that world.

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[1] Numa Denis Fustel De Coulanges, The Ancient City: A Study of the Religion, Laws, and Institutions of Greece and Rome (1874, repr. Mineola, NY: Dover Publications, 2006), 123.

 

Bible Study on Matthew 4, verses 1 to 11, part 1, the Devil and Christ in the wilderness

 

Matthew 4:1 ¶  Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. 2  And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred. 3  And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. 4  But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. 5  Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple, 6  And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. 7  Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. 8  Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; 9  And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. 10  Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. 11  Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him.

 

This passage is also reflected in Luke although there is a little difference in the order of the temptations in the two accounts. Remember that Matthew is recounting what Christ told him and Luke is going on the testimony of not only the Apostles but other Christians who preached and wrote and discussed what they were told. Both accounts are given by inspiration of the Spirit of God. There is absolutely no significance in the slight differences unless you are a skeptical modernist who reads the Bible like your car manual, in which case you will get little from the text because you don’t really believe it. Here also are comments I’ve already written.

 

Luke 4:1 ¶  And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, 2  Being forty days tempted of the devil. And in those days he did eat nothing: and when they were ended, he afterward hungered. 3  And the devil said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread. 4  And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God. 5  And the devil, taking him up into an high mountain, shewed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. 6  And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it. 7  If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine. 8  And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. 9  And he brought him to Jerusalem, and set him on a pinnacle of the temple, and said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down from hence: 10  For it is written, He shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee: 11  And in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. 12  And Jesus answering said unto him, It is said, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. 13  And when the devil had ended all the temptation, he departed from him for a season.

 

“An important point must be made about verse 2 in Luke 4. To tempt is to test or try.

 

Revelation 3:10  Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.

 

When Satan tempts one, tests one, the ultimate goal is to make them fall. God never tempts anyone of His people for the purpose of making them stumble as it says in James.

 

James 1:13  Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man:

 

God tempted Abraham but knew that Abraham’s faith would keep him from disobeying.

 

Genesis 22:1  And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am.

 

Hebrews 11:17  By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son,

 

A temptation then is not merely a matter of whether you looked too long at the magazine rack at the airport but a test of your faith, a trial. Only who is it from; the Devil, Satan, to make you fall or God to prove your position in Him, if only to yourself? Job’s entire ordeal can be called a temptation. Early Christians were sometimes faced with a demand that they reject Christ or die. This is also a tremendous temptation, an assault on one’s faith, belief in God, and trust in God as can be an illness or pressure from the world. Noteworthy scripture on temptations include;

 

Luke 11:4  And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil.

 

1Corinthians 10:13  There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.

 

James 1:12  Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.

Bible Study on Genesis 31, verses 1 to 16, Return unto the land of thy fathers

 

Genesis 31:1 ¶  And he heard the words of Laban’s sons, saying, Jacob hath taken away all that was our father’s; and of that which was our father’s hath he gotten all this glory. 2  And Jacob beheld the countenance of Laban, and, behold, it was not toward him as before. 3  And the LORD said unto Jacob, Return unto the land of thy fathers, and to thy kindred; and I will be with thee. 4  And Jacob sent and called Rachel and Leah to the field unto his flock, 5  And said unto them, I see your father’s countenance, that it is not toward me as before; but the God of my father hath been with me. 6  And ye know that with all my power I have served your father. 7  And your father hath deceived me, and changed my wages ten times; but God suffered him not to hurt me. 8  If he said thus, The speckled shall be thy wages; then all the cattle bare speckled: and if he said thus, The ringstraked shall be thy hire; then bare all the cattle ringstraked. 9  Thus God hath taken away the cattle of your father, and given them to me. 10  And it came to pass at the time that the cattle conceived, that I lifted up mine eyes, and saw in a dream, and, behold, the rams which leaped upon the cattle were ringstraked, speckled, and grisled. 11  And the angel of God spake unto me in a dream, saying, Jacob: And I said, Here am I. 12  And he said, Lift up now thine eyes, and see, all the rams which leap upon the cattle are ringstraked, speckled, and grisled: for I have seen all that Laban doeth unto thee. 13  I am the God of Bethel, where thou anointedst the pillar, and where thou vowedst a vow unto me: now arise, get thee out from this land, and return unto the land of thy kindred. 14  And Rachel and Leah answered and said unto him, Is there yet any portion or inheritance for us in our father’s house? 15  Are we not counted of him strangers? for he hath sold us, and hath quite devoured also our money. 16  For all the riches which God hath taken from our father, that is ours, and our children’s: now then, whatsoever God hath said unto thee, do.

Jacob’s cousins, Laban’s sons, are envious of Jacob’s success. Laban himself is showing signs of being hostile to Jacob from his own envy. Many commissioned salespersons can relate a story of a manager who resented their success even though the salesperson was making the manager money. It is one of those strange things about business where a boss can resent an employee’s success even when that success puts money in his own pocket. I’ve witnessed it myself at a small single-lot mobile/modular home dealership in the late 1980s.

God told Jacob to go home to where he was from and that God would be with him. Jacob called Rachel and Leah together and reminded them about how their father had changed his wages so many times and yet God had made Jacob successful and blessed him with wealth. He told them how God had appeared to him and said that He had seen how Laban had treated him and told Jacob to go back from where he came. God reminded Jacob that He was the God of Bethel where Jacob had the dream of the ladder to heaven. Most importantly, Jacob understood that God was responsible for the condition of the sheep and was behind what happened.

The Bible teaches us that God often uses people and methods to express His will which go beyond natural explanations but involve natural means. It is an important aspect of God’s will, using human agency while being responsible for the effort Himself. For instance, in Exodus 17 Israel is victorious if Moses’ hands are held up and they begin to lose if his hands are lowered. So, his arms are held up by rocks to keep them up. But, we know that it was God who gave the victory. Why not just have them win without Moses’ even being there? Simply because the action invested authority in God’s man and God working with human efforts that would be impotent without Him God moves His will forward. Neither Jacob putting sticks in water troughs nor Moses holding up his hands have any power to accomplish anything without God’s direct will being involved. This teaches us not to wait for a miracle passively but to pray and get busy, praying that God will work through you, if what you want to do is His will. This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t wait for God’s direction, revealing His direct and perfect will, and inspiration, giving understanding, but it just shows that God may use your efforts, no matter how weak and irrelevant they may seem, to accomplish His purpose.

The treatment the doctor applies to your sickness heals you but the Bible teaches that it is God who does the healing, only often as not, through human agency and effort. A family hurt is soothed because you went and apologized to a family member and although God did the soothing He used your willingness to act favorably in the matter to accomplish the calming. Understand, though, that the doctor’s effort without God’s will or your words of regret would have no effect without God. Don’t make the mistake of assuming that it was all you or the doctor’s great skill alone. And although God can heal without a doctor and can level out family difficulties without your apology He more often than not will use them both to perform His will.

Rachel and Leah both agree that Laban, their father, had not been exactly upright in his dealings. He had taken their money by cheating their husband. The wealth that Jacob had gotten from Laban was theirs and their children’s. In the end they were willing for Jacob to do whatever God led him to do.

Proverbs 13:22 ¶  A good man leaveth an inheritance to his children’s children: and the wealth of the sinner is laid up for the just.

Bible Study on Matthew 3, verses 7 to 17, cast into the fire

 

Matthew 3:7 ¶  But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8  Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance: 9  And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. 10  And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. 11  I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire: 12  Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.

 

John the Baptist condemns the religious elite. The wrath to come is referred to in several places and it is assumed that the Jews already know that this is expected.

 

1Thessalonians 1:10  And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come.

 

Revelation 11:18  And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth.

 

God’s judgment will be poured out at the end on wicked mankind and John here is suggesting that the religious elite of Israel are among the wicked to be judged.

 

Verse 8 shows us an important facet of the King James Bible in its self-defining qualities. What does the word meet mean here? We cross-reference the verse to Luke 3:8.

 

Luke 3:8  Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance, and begin not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, That God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham.

 

Here we see that meet means worthy. This makes these statements in Genesis make more sense to us.

 

Genesis 2:18  And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him…:20  And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him.

 

There is no such thing as a helpmeet, Christian. God created a helper that was up to the task, a woman made from man. He created a helper worthy for Adam in Eve.

 

What are fruits worthy of the mind of repentance from sin? For these Jews obedience to the Law and turning from their sins against the Law was fundamental.

 

Deuteronomy 6:24  And the LORD commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear the LORD our God, for our good always, that he might preserve us alive, as it is at this day. 25  And it shall be our righteousness, if we observe to do all these commandments before the LORD our God, as he hath commanded us.

 

Faith in Christ is our righteousness.

 

Romans 10:4  For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.

 

And our works are centered around that faith and belief unlike the Jews who had not seen the Messiah yet.

 

John 6:28 ¶  Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? 29  Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.

 

With regard to repentance, to repent is to turn from something, changing your mind about it and rejecting it.

 

Exodus 32:12  Wherefore should the Egyptians speak, and say, For mischief did he bring them out, to slay them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth? Turn from thy fierce wrath, and repent of this evil against thy people.

 

Ezekiel 18:30  Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways, saith the Lord GOD. Repent, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions; so iniquity shall not be your ruin.

 

The self-righteousness of the religious elite could not accomplish this. Only humility before God could accomplish this.

 

Verse 9 is one of those things Jesus says that underscores the ability of God to do what our reality tells us is impossible. This type of hyperbole is used elsewhere.

 

Luke 19:40  And he answered and said unto them, I tell you that, if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out.

 

One commentator, Peter Ruckman, suggested that stones may record sound and be a record of what is said in their vicinity. What do you think? God could take inanimate objects, lifeless things, and make living human beings out of them if He desired as He controls all reality and every function of every cell.

 

Verses 10-12 state very clearly that the Messiah to come will separate those who will obey and follow God and those who will not. This is a theme of Matthew. There are several passages that underscore the dividing that Christ does. The ministry of reconciling mankind to God’s self and the judgment to come for those who will reject His free offer of salvation are both referred to here in the early part of Matthew. Let’s look at some other passages as two examples of this thought, a gathering and a judgment.

 

Matthew 13:24 ¶  Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field: 25  But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way. 26  But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also. 27  So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares? 28  He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? 29  But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up

also the wheat with them. 30  Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.

 

Matthew 25:31 ¶  When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: 32  And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: 33  And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. 34  Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: 35  For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: 36  Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. 37  Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? 38  When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? 39  Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? 40  And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my

brethren, ye have done it unto me. 41  Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: 42  For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: 43  I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. 44  Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? 45  Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least

of these, ye did it not to me. 46  And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.

 

Matthew 3:13 ¶  Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him. 14  But John forbad him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me? 15  And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffered him. 16  And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: 17  And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.

 

Suffer, meaning to allow or permit as in the phrase I suffer fools gladly when you are amazed at someone’s willful ignorance.

 

As Jesus, who is God in the flesh, requires of Himself that He submit to the baptism of John an interesting figure of speech takes place. The Spirit, capital S, of God, the very mind of God, descends on Jesus like a dove. That is a simile connecting two unlike things with as or like. A dove did not descend on Christ literally but only in type. Using a dove as a symbol we can look back at Noah’s days as the Ark came to rest of dry land. The dove signifies the Holy Spirit in Genesis 8 with Noah’s name related to the Comforter when one compares Genesis 5:29 to John 14, 15, and 16’s reference to the Holy Ghost as the Comforter.

 

John reported that Jesus didn’t do any baptizing Himself but that His disciples baptized people.

 

John 4:1  When therefore the Lord knew how the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John, 2  (Though Jesus himself baptized not, but his disciples,)

 

Verses 16 and 17 have their parallels in Mark 1:10-11; Luke 3:22,  and John 1:32-33.

Bible Study on Genesis 30, verses 25 to 43, Jacob has a plan

 

Genesis 30:25 ¶  And it came to pass, when Rachel had born Joseph, that Jacob said unto Laban, Send me away, that I may go unto mine own place, and to my country. 26  Give me my wives and my children, for whom I have served thee, and let me go: for thou knowest my service which I have done thee. 27  And Laban said unto him, I pray thee, if I have found favour in thine eyes, tarry: for I have learned by experience that the LORD hath blessed me for thy sake. 28  And he said, Appoint me thy wages, and I will give it. 29  And he said unto him, Thou knowest how I have served thee, and how thy cattle was with me. 30  For it was little which thou hadst before I came, and it is now increased unto a multitude; and the LORD hath blessed thee since my coming: and now when shall I provide for mine own house also? 31  And he said, What shall I give thee? And Jacob said, Thou shalt not give me any thing: if thou wilt do this thing for me, I will again feed and keep thy flock: 32  I will pass through all thy flock to day, removing from thence all the speckled and spotted cattle, and all the brown cattle among the sheep, and the spotted and speckled among the goats: and of such shall be my hire. 33  So shall my righteousness answer for me in time to come, when it shall come for my hire before thy face: every one that is not speckled and spotted among the goats, and brown among the sheep, that shall be counted stolen with me. 34  And Laban said, Behold, I would it might be according to thy word. 35  And he removed that day the he goats that were ringstraked and spotted, and all the she goats that were speckled and spotted, and every one that had some white in it, and all the brown among the sheep, and gave them into the hand of his sons. 36  And he set three days’ journey betwixt himself and Jacob: and Jacob fed the rest of Laban’s flocks.

30:37 ¶  And Jacob took him rods of green poplar, and of the hazel and chesnut tree; and pilled white strakes in them, and made the white appear which was in the rods. 38  And he set the rods which he had pilled before the flocks in the gutters in the watering troughs when the flocks came to drink, that they should conceive when they came to drink. 39  And the flocks conceived before the rods, and brought forth cattle ringstraked, speckled, and spotted. 40  And Jacob did separate the lambs, and set the faces of the flocks toward the ringstraked, and all the brown in the flock of Laban; and he put his own flocks by themselves, and put them not unto Laban’s cattle. 41  And it came to pass, whensoever the stronger cattle did conceive, that Jacob laid the rods before the eyes of the cattle in the gutters, that they might conceive among the rods. 42  But when the cattle were feeble, he put them not in: so the feebler were Laban’s, and the stronger Jacob’s. 43  And the man increased exceedingly, and had much cattle, and maidservants, and menservants, and camels, and asses.

Jacob wants to take his family and leave Laban, returning to his own country. Laban acknowledges that Jacob has been a wise steward of Laban’s flocks and has made Laban prosperous. He says, tell me what you want and I’ll pay you. Jacob reinforces that under his direction and by his work God has blessed Laban through Jacob which is what Laban admitted. Now, it is time for Jacob to acquire wealth of his own.

It is interesting to note in history how the Jew, living in the countries of the Gentiles, has made Gentiles rich and prosperous by their skills at handling money and commerce. It is also interesting how, like Laban, the Gentiles have, more often than not, resented the Jews, rather than thanked them, as we shall soon see of Laban.

We don’t learn until the next chapter that God has arranged for this method of Jacob acquiring wealth and it is not some arcane and ancient form of sheepherding. It is pointless to try to explain the events regarding the sheep without believing in God’s miraculous involvement in Jacob’s life.

Bible Study on Matthew 3, verses 1 to 6, part 3, prepare ye the way of the LORD

 

In verse 3 Matthew quotes Isaiah;

 

Isaiah 40:3 ¶  The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.

 

Also quoted in Mark and John;

 

Mark 1:3  The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.

 

John 1:23  He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias.

 

Luke quotes more fully with the Holy Spirit giving us word substitutions that give the deeper meaning of the Old Testament passage;

 

Luke 3:4  As it is written in the book of the words of Esaias the prophet, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.5  Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways shall be made smooth; 6  And all flesh shall see the salvation of God.

 

Isaiah 40:3 ¶  The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. 4  Every valley shall be exalted, and

every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain: 5  And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh

shall see it together: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.

 

Verse 4 gives a description of John the Baptist’s appearance and his diet confirmed in Mark.

 

Mark 1:6  And John was clothed with camel’s hair, and with a girdle of a skin about his loins; and he did eat locusts and wild honey;

 

John reminds us of the prophet Elijah.

 

2Kings 1:8  And they answered him, He was an hairy man, and girt with a girdle of leather about his loins. And he said, It is Elijah the Tishbite.

 

Interestingly, there is this in the last book of the Old Testament;

 

Malachi 4:5  Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD: 6  And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.

 

Which we will see as explained by Jesus that John was a type of Elijah coming in his power and authority and therefore Elijah had come to announce the Messiah, if in type, power, and authority.

 

Matthew 17:10  And his disciples asked him, saying, Why then say the scribes that Elias must first come? 11  And Jesus answered and said unto them, Elias truly shall first come, and restore all things. 12  But I say unto you, That Elias is come already, and they knew him not, but have done unto him whatsoever they listed. Likewise shall also the Son of man suffer of them. 13  Then the disciples understood that he spake unto them of John the Baptist.

 

Verses 5 and 6 speak of a large group of people from all over the Roman province of Judea near the Jordan including Jerusalem. John’s baptism for sin was to get the nation of Israel prepared to receive their Messiah. John the Baptist will be the prophet who declares Christ. He will teach the Jewish people as a nation to repent of their sins and be baptized as symbol of their repentance. John’s baptism had no saving power but was an outward expression of a commitment to righteousness in preparation for the Messiah to come.

 

Note that the kingdom of heaven and of God is about to be revealed. Its nature and essence, its reality in the Lord Jesus Christ is just on the verge of being shown to the Jews. The Jews need to prepare their hearts and make sure their commitment. The Messiah is coming. They are still under the Law.

 

Although the physical act of baptism is not mentioned in the law for the general populace of Jews washing is referred to for the priests to wash their hands and feet in Exodus 30:18-21. Peter refers to Noah’s experience in the Ark saving him and his family from the Great Flood as a type of baptism in 1Peter 3:20-21. Paul uses typology in calling the flight through the Red Sea as a type of baptism in 1Corinthians 10:1-2. Jonah’s experience in the deep is also a type of baptism.

 

What is important is that as Old Testament shadows of future truths and prophecies become more and more concrete as the Bible progresses we have here John the Baptist preparing in baptism the Jews for the Messiah who is about to appear. This is a commitment by the Jews, a commitment of the spiritual heart in repentance of sin, sin that causes a need for the Messiah to come to them.

 

We should consider the prayerful request from David.

 

Psalm 51:1 ¶  «To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet came unto him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.» Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions. 2  Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. 3  For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me. 4  Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest. 5  Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me. 6  Behold,

thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom.

 

    7 ¶  Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. 8  Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice. 9  Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities. 10  Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. 11  Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me. 12  Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit. 13  Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee.

 

    14 ¶  Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation: and my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness. 15  O Lord, open thou my lips; and my mouth shall shew forth thy praise. 16  For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering. 17  The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise. 18  Do good in thy good pleasure unto Zion: build thou the walls of Jerusalem. 19  Then shalt thou be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness, with burnt offering and whole burnt offering: then shall they offer bullocks upon thine altar.

 

So, by David, Moses, Jonah, and even Naaman the Syrian we have a fortelling in type of this baptism presented by John. This is not the same baptism that we share. This is for national repentance in preparation of a Messiah who, for us, has already come and will return. As the Messiah had not been revealed yet David, Moses, and Jonah could not have made the following prayer Peter commands the believing Jews to make later.

 

Acts 2:36  Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ. 37 ¶  Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? 38  Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.