THE GOSPELS – Murdering of the Children, Matthew 2:16-18

14 February 2025

We are studying Matthew chapter 2:16-18 today about the MURDERING OF THE CHILDREN.

We are mainly reading from the Complete Jewish Study Bible – insight for Jews and Christians with cross references to other Bible versions. As well as the Nelson’s Foundational Bible Dictionary.

As you know we are using the Hebrew names of God the Father, namely YHVH (Yod-Heh-Vav-Heh) where the word LORD in capital letters is used in standard versions of the Bible, and we will also use the description Heavenly Father and Abba Father.  And we also use the Hebrew Name Yeshua the Messiah instead of the English Name Jesus Christ translated from the Greek.

We ended last week with verse 15 with Joseph getting instructed by an angel of YHVH the Father to take the child Yeshua and His mother to Egypt and stay there until Herod died because he wanted to kill Yeshua.

And in Matthew 2:16 we read further: “Meanwhile, when Herod realized that the Magi had tricked him, he was furious and gave orders to KILL ALL THE BOYS in and around Bethlehem who were two years old or less, calculating from the time the Magi told him.”

The Afrikaans Bible in Practice explains: “Herod, the king of the Jews, murdered all the boys two years and less in a panicked attempt to destroy a possible threat to his throne. His hands were stained with blood, but he couldn’t do anything to Yeshua. Herod was made king by people, but Yeshua has been appointed by God as King. No one can stop God the Father’s plans. Herod did not understand what the purpose of the coming of the Messiah was. Yeshua was not interested in Herod’s throne – He wanted to be the King of Herod’s life and give him ETERNAL LIFE. Yeshua had no intention of destroying Herod’s earthly life. Even today people are afraid that Yeshua wants to take things away from them while in reality He wants to give them TRUE FREEDOM, PEACE and JOY.

And we read in Matthew 2:17-18 “In this way were fulfilled the words spoken through the prophet Jeremiah: ‘A voice was heard in Ramah, sobbing and lamenting loudly. It was Rachel sobbing for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no longer alive.”

This refers to Jeremiah 31:14-15.

The Jewish Study Bible explains: The literal meaning of this verse does not refer to the Messiah but to the slaughter of the Northern tribes of Israel by the Assyrians. Matthew here refers to the burial place of Jacob’s wife Rachel in Ramah just outside of Bethlehem. He therefore makes the comparison that just as Rachel in her grave mourns for her future generations, so also the woman of nearby Bethlehem mourns for their slain infant sons.  In Jeremiah 31 a particular joyful scene of God’s regathering of Israel is interrupted with verses 14-15 reminding the reader that the NORTHERN KINGDOM had been destroyed almost one hundred and fifty years earlier. Rachel through her son JOSEPH is considered the “mother” of ISRAEL (the TEN TRIBES under EFRAIM including Manasseh), the two most important tribes of the ten who broke away from Judah and Benjamin.

The Afrikaans Bible in Practice explains: “Rachel cries over the exile of Judah and Israel and it became a symbol of the women who wept because their sons were killed.

The Assyrians lived in the land ASSSYRIA lying on the Tigris (tai-gris) between Padanaram, Babylon, Armenia and Media. The name is derived from ASSHUR, the son of Shem and therefore the grandson of Noah (read Genesis 10:22) who was later WORSHIPPED by the ASSYRIANS as an idol. The Assyrians were a Semitic people (speaking Hebrew, Arabic and Aramaic) who originated in Babylon (read Genesis 10:11). They conquered Babylonia about 1300 years B.C. under Tiglath-Pileser I and became the strongest power in the EAST. They are mentioned in the Bible briefly for their WARLIKE AGGRESSIONS. During the days of David and Solomon, under Tiglath-Pileser II, Assyria had declined, and it was not a serious threat to the expansion of the KINGDOM of ISRAEL. However, when Tiglath-Pileser III came into power, Assyria began to stretch its power and influence. Tiglath-Pileser was succeeded by his son Shalmaneser who began to put PRESSURE onto ISRAEL, demanding tribute. King Hoshea was the LAST king over ISRAEL (the Northern Kingdom, comprising the TEN TRIBES under Ephraim) and ruled in Samaria and he did evil in the eyes of YHVH. One year king Hoshea refused to pay, and Shalmaneser took swift action. In the year 722 B.C., the nation of ISRAEL (the Northern Kingdom comprising of the TEN TRIBES under Efraim), was invaded, conquered and carried captive into ASSYRIA. ISRAEL never recovered from this devastation, and the TEN NORTHERN TRIBES were scattered and mixed with foreign nations, and they forgot their ancestry. Most of the exiles never returned to the land.

The reasons for the exile are given in 2 Kings 17:7-22 as being the following:  They sinned against YHVH their God who brought them out of the land of Egypt from under the dominion of the Pharaoh. They feared other (small letter) gods and lived by the customs of the nations that YHVH had expelled before ahead of them. They secretly did things that were not right according to YHVH their God. They built high places for themselves, they set up standing-stones and sacred poles on any high hill and green tree and made offerings, like the nations and would do wicket things to provoke the anger of YHVH, moreover they served idols YHVH expressly told them not to do. He warned ISRAEL and JUDAH in advance through every prophet to TURN from their evil ways and obey His COMMANDMENTS and regulations in accordance with the entire TORAH (Genesis to Deuteronomy) which He ordered their ancestors to keep and which He sent to them thorough His servants and prophets.

Nevertheless, they refused to listen and was stubborn like their ancestors who did not put their TRUST in YHVH their God. Thus, they REJECTED HIS LAWS; HIS COVENANT, which He had made with their ancestors and the solemn WARNINGS He had given them. Instead, they pursued WORTHLESS THINGS and became WORTHLESS themselves, imitating the nations around them, whom YHVH ordered them not to follow. They abandoned all the COMMANDMENTS of YHVH their God. They made CASTMETAL IMAGES for themselves, TWO CALVES (indicative of the golden calf in the wilderness).  They made an Asherah (this was a form of tree worship for the mother goddess Asherah). They WORSHIPPED the WHOLE ARMY OF HEAVEN (referring to the worshipping of the STARS which are indicating angel worship). They served Ba’al (the Canaanite small letter god worshipped with human sacrifices). They had their sons and daughters pass through fire (as a sacrifice). They used divination and magic spells. And they gave themselves over to what was evil form YHVH’s perspective, thereby provoking Him, so that YHVH, by now, very angry, removed them from His sight. None was left (of the NORTHERN KINGDOM) except the TRIBE OF JUDAH (the SOUTHERN KINGDOM, known as the Jews, today). YHVH came to despise ALL THE DECENDANTS OF ISRAEL (the Northern Kingdom – all TEN TRIBES under Ephraim). He caused them trouble and handed them over to plunderers, until finally He threw them out of His sight. He tore ISRAEL (the Northern Kingdom under Ephraim) away from the HOUSE of DAVID (the Southern Kingdom under the tribe of Judah known as the Jews in the New Testament up to today) and they made Jeroboam son of Nebat from the TRIBE OF EPHRAIM, their king. Jeroboam was one of king Solomon’s administrators who became king over the Northern Kingdom when the KINGDOM OF ISRAEL divided into TWO KINGDOMS due to the sins of Solomon in his son Rehoboam rulership, resulting in him being ONLY king of the Southern Kingdom (comprising of Judah and Benjamin) with their CAPITAL CITY JERUSALEM – read 1 Kings chapters 12 to 16). And Jeroboam king over the NORTHERN KINGDOM (comprising of the TEN TRIBES under Ephraim), with their Capital City SAMARIA, enticed ISRAEL away from following YHVH and caused them to commit GREAT SIN. The ISRAELITES persisted in ALL the sins of Jeroboam and did not turn away from it until YHVH REMOVED THEM FORM HIS PRESENCE, as HE had warned through all His SERVANTS the PROPHETS. So, the people of ISRAEL (the TEN TRIBES, described today as the LOST TRIBES OF ISRAEL) were taken from their homeland into exile in ASSYRIA AND THEY ARE STILL THERE.  I believe this mean they are still scattered among the nations but we know from the NEW TESTAMENT Yeshua the Messiah said He came for the LOST SHEEP OF ISRAEL and they are being regathered as BELIEVERS IN and FOLLOWERS of YESHUA our MESSIAH – read Matthew 15:24 as well as John 10:3-27, the prophecies in Jeremiah 31:10, 50:6, Ezekiel 37:22, Micah 2:12 and Acts 20:28, 1 Peter 2:25 and Revelation 7:17

Some years later, another ASSYRIAN king, Sennacherib, came up against Jerusalem when Hezekiah was king of Judah (the Southern Kingdom comprising of the tribe of Judah and the smaller tribe of Benjamin called the Jews). King Hezekiah was a righteous ruler, and God recued His people from the hands of the ASSYRIANS, read 2 Kings chapters 18:17-19:37.

The ASSYRIANS were a PAGAN people, whose IDOL WORSHIP was STRONGLY CONDEMNED by several OLD TESTAMENT PROPHETS (read Isaiah 10:5, Ezekiel 16:28 and Hosea 8:9). The ASSYRIANS WORSHIPED NATURE, believing that the natural elements were possessed by a spirit. Along with the national deity, ASSUR the ASSYRIAN people worshipped Shemach, the SUN god; Sin, the MOON god; and Hadad, the god of THUNDER.

The ASSYRIANS were notorious for their savagery (cruelty, violence, brutality) in WARFARE. They BURNED and LOOTED cities and showed little mercy to their captives. In stone carvings discovered by archeologists, ASSYRIAN soldiers are shown torturing children, blinding warriors, chopping off hands, impaling victims on stakes and beheading their enemies. Because of the cruelty and paganism of the ASSYRIANS, the Hebrew people harbored deep seated RESENTMENT (anger, bitterness and hatred) and hostility (aggression and unfriendliness) toward this nation. This attitude is revealed clearly in the Book of Jonah. The reluctant prophet Jonah, like the rest of the ISRAELITES, hated and despised the ASSYRIANS. When God told Jonah to go and preach REPENTENCE to the ASSYRIAN CAPITAL CITY of NINEVEH, Jonah refused. When he finally obeyed God, and the city actually REPENTED, Jonah was angry with God for FORGIVING such a wicket people, instead of destroying them. The entire Book of Nahum is a prediction of God’s judgement against the Assyrians. Nahum informed the nation that its days as a world power were drawing to a close. In an oracle of woe, the prophet described Nineveh as a “bloody city…full of lies and robbery” (Nahum 3:1). But soon the city of Nineveh would be laid waste, and Assyria would crumble before the judgement of God. This happened as Nahum prophesied when the when the Babylonians and Medians formed a coalition to defeat the Assyrians about 612 B.C. The ASSYRIANS were a wicket people, guilty of much cruelty and evil, but nevertheless God used them to scourge the disobedient nations of JUDAH (the Southern Kingdom) and ISRAEL (the Northern Kingdom).