The Word of God is a not a book meant only to be read. It is a book meant to be lived. The process of studying Scripture contains three steps: observing the text, interpreting its original meaning, and applying the principles therein to personal life. And so, in an effort to connect the theological training of the mind received on Wednesday night to the life lived on Thursday afternoon, we have started a series meant to follow after the teaching during Bible Study and show how to apply it specifically to one's life.
Matt Round, our beloved father of three and local soda peddler, taught last Wednesday (9-29) on Matthew 2:13-23. His main outline was:
I. The King's Hiding (v. 13-15)
II. A King's Hatred (v. 16-18)
III. The King's Home (v. 18-23)
The point of this post is not to re-hash the entirety of his material, but rather to give some take-away thoughts. Matt dealt with the difficult issue of how prophecy is handled by New Testament authors, and in particular, how Matthew (the tax collector, not the soda peddler) utilized the O.T. references in this passage. He boiled down the options to four.
Matthew could either:
1. be wrong in how he interpreted the O.T. scriptures (a solution to be rejected due to the belief in the verbal-plenary inspiration of biblical authors by the Holy Spirit and the infallibility and inerrancy of Scripture)
2. have "corrected" Hosea (and Jeremiah) by showing what the prophets should have meant (rejected for the same reason as the first, except that this position assumes the prophets, as opposed to Matthew, were wrong).
3. have used typology to explain how Christ's life fulfilled these O.T. references (a strong evangelical view, with many godly men supporting it)
4. or been quoting a verse to remind his Jewish readers of a specific idea in a specific context from the O.T. (also a well-supported view of orthodoxy)
In summation, Matt (soda peddler) showed us how the fourth option was the means by which Matthew (tax collector) handled the O.T. texts. And the idea-in-context that Matthew sought to remind his readers of was God's faithfulness to them despite their rejection of Him.
The reference in Hosea calls to mind the living analogy God required Hosea to live (and the theme of Hosea). Hosea married an adulteress and was required to take her back after her adultery, much like Israel's rejection of God and God's loving-kindness to faithfully call Israel back.
The reference in Jeremiah uses Rachel's sons as metaphors for Israel, with Rachel weeping over their deportation. And in the next verse (31:16) God promises return from exile, for He will be faithful.
The prophecy of the Messiah being a Nazarene in verse 23 foreshadows Jesus' fulfillment as the one rejected by Israel (c.f. John 1:45-46) seen in passages like Psalm 22:6-7; Isaiah 59:7, 53:3; and Daniel 9:26.
All of the passages refer to God's faithfulness despite the people's rejection of Him. And how does that connect to you? Well, whether you are in a dorm room or a grocery store or a soccer game, I'm betting you sinned against God today. Which means, in your own little kingdom, you rejected God for something inferior. You played the role of Israel and rejected the King. And yet, God will still remain faithful to you.
So you sinned, and what matters now is your response to your sin. Confess the sin, turn from it, and practice a better, holier action. God is faithful to forgive your sin.
There is something to be deeply thankful for in God's faithfulness.
And there is much more to apply here, so if you want, answer these questions in the comments section:
How are you going to apply the concept of God's faithfulness?
How has God been faithful to you: in your lifetime, in the past year, in the past week, in the past hour?
What is/should be your response to the faithfulness of God?
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