The Book of Matthew; an Introduction – Part IIa

Wednesday, 3 July 2024

The Book of Matthew; an Introduction – Part IIa

As noted in the first introductory segment, this segment will reveal some of the patterns of Matthew, and how the book fits into the overall structure of how the Bible is laid out. Due to its length, it will be divided into a two-day study.

Main Purposes:

There are several purposes concerning the need for the Book of Matthew as well as its placement in the Bible. 

1) A Depiction of Jesus Christ Given to Assure Believers That He Is The One Promised to Come and Restore All Things for the People of God

2) A Carefully Detailed Record of the Life and Ministry of Jesus Christ: Matthew records the genealogy of Jesus, proving that He possessed the right to the throne of David and is the fulfillment of the messianic prophecies in the Old Testament.

He records the things Jesus did, the words He spoke, and the miracles He accomplished. Matthew’s gospel provides a beautiful panorama of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. With a knowledge of the Old Testament, one can pick up this gospel narrative and make the obvious connection to the things prophesied and the things then fulfilled.

3) Intricate Patterns That Reveal the Wisdom of God Through Inspiration of the Text: Each of the first 28 books of the Old Testament has a link to the corresponding chapter in Matthew, forming a notable structure within Matthew. These will be placed here in the introduction for easy reference in the future.

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*God speaking to Abraham in Genesis (1st book) 22:18 says –

“In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.”

Matthew 1:1 links to this –

“The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham.”

Here, the first sentence of Matthew is establishing the direct lineage of the Christ, Jesus. It is interesting to note that no other person in history can fulfill this prophecy because the records of Jewish genealogy were destroyed with the 2nd Temple in AD 70.

Secondly, Matthew 1:17 says –

“So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations, from David until the captivity in Babylon are fourteen generations, and from the captivity in Babylon until the Christ are fourteen generations.”

Interestingly, it is the 17th Chapter of Genesis where God reveals to Abraham that he would receive the covenant and that kings would come from him.

Notice the parallel – (1)17 and 1:17

Another Genesis/Matthew link is to be found here in Matthew 1:20, 21 –

“But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, ‘Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. 21 And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins.’”

The parallel in Genesis is this –

“Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him all the more.” Genesis 37:5

Notice that both Josephs received dreams from God.

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*Exodus (2nd book) 4:22, 23 says –

“Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the LORD: “Israel is My son, My firstborn. 23 So I say to you, let My son go that he may serve Me. But if you refuse to let him go, indeed I will kill your son, your firstborn.””’ 

Matthew 2:15, provides the link –

“and was there until the death of Herod, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, ‘Out of Egypt I called My Son.’”

Another impressive pattern from Exodus is the attempted murder of Moses by Pharoah and Jesus by Herod which was accomplished by exterminating the male children –

“When you help the Hebrew women in childbirth and observe them on the delivery stool, if it is a boy, kill him; but if it is a girl, let her live.” Exodus 1:16

“When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi.” Matthew 2:16

Notice that both of these events occur in the 16th verse (2)1:16 and 2:16.

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*Leviticus (3rd book) 11:22 reads –

“These you may eat: the locust after its kind, the destroying locust after its kind, the cricket after its kind, and the grasshopper after its kind.”

In Matthew 3:4 is this link –

“Now John himself was clothed in camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist; and his food was locusts and wild honey.”

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*Numbers (4th book) begins with, “Now the LORD spoke to Moses in the Wilderness of Sinai...”

In fact, the Hebrew name for Numbers is Bamidbar which means “In the Wilderness.”  The book details the forty years of wandering in the desert.

See how Matthew 4 begins –

“Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness...”

Notice the numerical pattern (4)1 and 4:1. Israel’s forty years are in accord with the biblical pattern of a day for a year which corresponds to Jesus’ forty days there.

Remember that the purpose of the 40 years of wandering is outlined in Deuteronomy 8 –

“And you shall remember that the Lord your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. 3 So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord.” Deuteronomy 8:2, 3

Jesus used exactly this verse in Matthew 4:10 to refute the devil after His wandering in the wilderness –

“Then Jesus said to him, ‘Away with you, Satan! For it is written, “You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve.”’”

Another parallel between the two is in Numbers 23. Here it shows us where Balaam was tempted three times to curse the Israelites as they camped east of the Promised Land at the end of 40 years in the wilderness.

Matthew 4 matches this beautifully in the three temptations of Jesus by Satan at the end of His 40 days of fasting in the Judean wilderness which is east of Jerusalem.

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*Deuteronomy (5th book) 28 starts with Israel's expected blessings from God for obedience. In fact, from Deuteronomy 3-12, the word “bless” in one form or another is mentioned nine times.  

Matthew 5 starts with the Beatitudes spoken by the Lord Jesus. In fact, a form of the word “bless” is mentioned nine times from 3-11.

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*Joshua (6th book) 7:21 says –

“When I saw among the spoils a beautiful Babylonian garment, two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold weighing fifty shekels, I coveted them and took them. And there they are, hidden in the earth in the midst of my tent, with the silver under it.”

Matthew 6:21 states –

“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

Notice the parallel in the number – (6)7:21 and 6:21.

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*Judges is the 7th book.

Matthew 7:1 states, “Judge not, that you be not judged.”

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*Ruth (8th book) 1:14 says –

“At this they wept again. Then Orpah kissed her mother-in-law good-by, but Ruth clung to her” (NIV).

Matthew 8:14 says –

“When Jesus came into Peter’s house, he saw Peter’s mother-in-law lying in bed with a fever” (NIV).

It may seem insignificant, but it is a pattern – (8)1:14 and Matthew 8:14 both speak of mother-in-law. This term is used only 16 times in the entire bible and 9 of these are in the book of Ruth while 5 are in the synoptic Gospels.

Life application: As you can already see, there are patterns hidden within the text of Matthew that correspond exactingly to other books of the Bible. These patterns will continue to be presented in the next few days.

Such patterns can be found in other Books of the Bible, such as Luke, which is filled with them. If one considers that the order of the books of the Old Testament do not match the same order as that used by the Jewish people, that the chapter divisions did not exist until the 1200s, and that the verse numbers did not exist until the 1500s, it is either the biggest fluke in history that these patterns exist, or it is absolutely certain that God superintended over the process of inspiring what was recorded, how it is laid out, and how it continued to be laid out even a millennia and a half later.

Further, these patterns continue to be discovered even today. If you struggle with whether the word of God is really the word of God, consider these things. The guiding hand of God has been involved in the process of inspiration all along as He has slowly revealed His word to His people in a chronologically methodical way so that man can have every assurance that he is putting his eggs in the right basket when he trusts in Jesus because he trusts in the reliability of the word of God.

Lord God, how wonderful it is to read and study Your word. The amount of wisdom and knowledge that is derived from it is beyond our ability to even imagine. Thank You for your sure and precious word that tells us about our great and exalted Savior, Jesus. Amen.