Special Prophecy Update Number 253A

December 11, 2005

Bethlehem Star King, Wise Men, Nazareth, & Egypt!

An ole Friend of mine, who really is old, sent me an e-mail recently asking what I believed about the accounts of Christ’s birth as reported by Matthew and Luke, particularly as to where Jesus was taken after his birth from Bethlehem. The accounts follow. Of course, we both knew they were 100 percent accurate.

A synoptic analyst takes what is known and tries to fit it together, without violating the data, into a composite story that fits the data. I certainly do not intend to give the impression what follows is absolutely correct, but it does not violate what we do know as fact from the word of God.

Matthew 2:10-15 – When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy. [11] And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh. [12] And being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way. [13] And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him. [14] When he arose, he took the young child and his mother by night, and departed into Egypt: [15] And was there until the death of Herod: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I called my son.

Luke 2:6,7,39-41 – And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. [7] And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn. [39] And when they had performed all things according to the law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee, to their own city Nazareth. [40] And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom: and the grace of God was upon him. [41] Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the feast of the Passover.

Matthew says Joseph and Mary took him to Egypt, but Luke says they took him to Nazareth. How can this be?

When Jesus was born the star appeared over Bethlehem and the wise men in the east saw it. As to why I believe “the east,” was in the southern Euphrates plain between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, please read Archive Prophecy Updates 149A and 149B. It would have taken more than a year for the wise men to prepare for, and make, the trip from that area to Jerusalem via the safest route they would have been forced to travel.

I believe both accounts are 100 percent accurate. Jesus did go back to Nazareth after he was circumcised, and remained there until the family made another trip to Bethlehem for a later Passover following his birth. His family stayed in a house in Bethlehem during those Passover festivities in Jerusalem, not in the cave under the inn that had previously held the Christ child in a manger. After the wise men departed the house, Joseph was warned to take the under two year old child and Mary to Egypt. Herod then had all children two and under killed to make sure he got the child who was prophesied to be the new king. When Herod died the family of Joseph did return to Nazareth. Jesus was born in 4 B.C. or 3 B.C. on our calendar and Herod died in 2 B.C. or 1 B.C.! I sifted through Luke, biblical and calendar correlation expositors, and Josephus, to finally reach what I believe stands the best chance of being correct – it appears that Jesus was born in 3 B.C. and Herod the Great died in 2 B.C.!

So the scenario of the Luke and Matthew accounts are perfectly compatible. Jesus was born in 3 B.C. in a cave under the inn in a manger in Bethlehem. He was then circumcised on the eighth day following his birth, and returned with Joseph and his mother to Nazareth.

More than a year later he was taken by Joseph and Mary to Bethlehem for the celebration of the Passover in Jerusalem, a few miles away. They stayed in a house in Bethlehem. The wise men showed up in Jerusalem asking Herod where the child, who was to become king in Israel, was born. The Priests and Scribes looked it up and told them Bethlehem. They were guided to the house in Bethlehem by the star they had first seen more than a year before in the western Persian skies. I have included full details of the character of the star and the journey in Archive Prophecy Updates 149A and 149B.

Again, I believe the Bible is the inspired word of the living God, and is without error. I simply fill in answers to what critics sometimes use to prove it is not accurate.

Micah 5:1-3 – Now gather thyself in troops, O daughter of troops: he hath laid siege against us: they shall smite the judge of Israel with a rod upon the cheek. [2] But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting. [3] Therefore will he give them up, until the time that she which travaileth hath brought forth: then the remnant of his brethren shall return unto the children of Israel.

“Therefore” is a conclusion to Micah 5:1,2 that explains why the Messiah of Israel gave “them up.” Because they beat him and rejected him as their judge, they came under judgment because they would not let him judge them. God’s judgment has been on them for some two thousand years. Without their God to deliver them, they have become the most persecuted, prosecuted, and rejected people on this earth. The Nazi burning, torturing, and butchering of some six million Jews was beyond belief. And yet I love them tenaciously. Why? Because their Messiah, who forgave them on the cross, is alive in me, and in the near future he will return to be their Messiah, their God with them. The word “until,” in the second phrase of this verse, makes the point that he has not forsaken them forever, but only “until” they have passed through the final judgment for having judged him, which consists of the last 1260 days of travail in the tribulation period.

Christ will come forth at his Second Advent as the Lion of Judah to rule over the remnant of Israel that survives the tribulation period, and will bring a remnant of his brethren with him. In verse three he rejected them with “therefore,” then told them they would suffer travail “until” he came back to the earth and “then,” that is, at his Second Advent, all of the remnant of his “brethren” return to live on the same planet with him.

Matthew 23:38,39 – Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. [39] For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.

Revelation 1:7 – Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.

Zechariah 13:9 – And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The Lord is my God.

Zechariah 14:5 – And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal: yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah: and the Lord my God shall come, and all the saints with thee.

Hebrews 2:11 – For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren,

Romans 11:5 – Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace. Romans 2:29 – But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.

Luke 1:76,77 – And thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest: for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways; [77] To give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins, [78] Through the tender mercy of our God; whereby the dayspring from on high hath visited us,