Sensus Plenior

Jesus said, “The person old in days won’t hesitate to ask a little child seven days old about the place of life, and that person will live.

-Gospel of Thomas

a little child
Jesus says that those who come to him must be like little children.

seven days old
The seventh day is the day of rest. The little child is complete in Christ. He has been fruitful with Christ on the sixth day and is now resting in the work of Christ.

old in days
This is a euphemism for ‘near death’. Anyone without Christ is near death.

A person who is in sin won’t hesitate to ask a Christian about the place of life (in Christ), and that person will live.

Jesus said, “If your leaders say to you, ‘Look, the (Father’s) kingdom is in the sky,’ then the birds of the sky will precede you. If they say to you, ‘It is in the sea,’ then the fish will precede you. Rather, the kingdom is within you and it is outside you. When you know yourselves, then you will be known, and you will understand that you are children of the living Father. But if you do not know yourselves, then you live in poverty, and you are the poverty.”

-Gospel of Thomas

“If your leaders say to you, ‘Look, the (Father’s) kingdom is in the sky,’ then the birds of the sky will precede you. If they say to you, ‘It is in the sea,’ then the fish will precede you.

God is not localized. Do not chase after men who teach the wisdom of God. Wisdom is learned from God directly. What you are seeking is the personal testimony from the Father that Jesus is the Son of God as Peter had received. He is the Truth and Wisdom of God.

Lu 17:21 Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.
Lu 17:23 And they shall say to you, See here; or, see there: go not after them, nor follow them.

and it is outside you.

The kingdom though personal is not isolated in you.

1Cor 14:36 ¶ What? came the word of God out from you? or came it unto you only?

Heb 10:25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some [is]; but exhorting [one another]: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.

Having a revelation from God that Jesus is the Son of God does not isolate you, though you will feel that it does. You are not the only one to whom such revelations have come. In fact, Paul declares that he wishes that all would prophesy.

The kingdom is a corporate enterprise. We are saved together:

Heb 11:40 God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.

And the prophecy is not of a private interpretation. What God gives you will agree with what He gives other prophets. Do not shirk at the word ‘prophet’. It is the voice of the prophet that speaks of Christ. You are seeking a prophecy. God says through Paul that he wishes that we would all prophesy.

When you know yourselves, then you will be known, and you will understand that you are children of the living Father

The spiritual man looks into the mirror of the Word of God and sees himself as he truly is, he is one who is known by Christ.

This lesson encourages us to persist and teaches us the purpose for encountering the wisdom of God.

Jesus said, “Those who seek should not stop seeking until they find. When they find, they will be disturbed. When they are disturbed, they will marvel, and will reign over all. [And after they have reigned they will rest.]”

-Gospel of Thomas

Those who seek should not stop seeking until they find

This is the same teaching as Luke 11:5-10:

5 And he said unto them, Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go unto him at midnight, and say unto him, Friend, lend me three loaves;
6 For a friend of mine in his journey is come to me, and I have nothing to set before him?
7 And he from within shall answer and say, Trouble me not: the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give thee.
8 I say unto you, Though he will not rise and give him, because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he needeth.
9 And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.
10 For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.

In the context of sensus plenior, God says that wisdom is the seeking out of the riddles and he has assured us that if we lack wisdom, we need only ask of him. When you ask him for the solution to a riddle He will give it, but persist in your asking.

This need for persistence is not because God is slow to answer, but that the solution to one riddle may depend on the solutions to others first. In your persistent seeking, you will discover one answer then another until finally the riddle you seek an answer to is revealed. God guides you in each step.

When they find, they will be disturbed.

Mr 6:50 For they all saw him, and were troubled <5015>. And immediately he talked with them, and saith unto them, Be of good cheer: it is I; be not afraid.

When we find Christ in the Old Testament scriptures we become troubled. We become troubled because we are peering into the mysteries and mind of God. In times past men fell on their faces when God has revealed Himself to them, it should be no different for us. Knowing the mysteries of God as revealed by God does not elevate us but humbles. But be of good cheer “It is I; be not afraid.”

When they are disturbed, they will marvel,

Once you can proclaim that “Jesus is the Son of God” as did Peter; not because someone has told you but because God has made him known, then you will marvel at the intricate simplicity of the mystery hidden in His word.

and will reign over all.
Christ has made us a generation of kings and priests. Kings reign over the earthly… or the flesh. We have been told to put off the old man and put on the new. The egos of men think that we will be kings over other men, but God humbles us to be kings over our own flesh. An encounter with God does not elevate the ego, but enables us to rule our flesh. (As priests we are to be interceding for others, it would be inconsistent to ask us to rule over those we are interceding for.) We have been chosen for a separated/holy walk with God.

[And after they have reigned they will rest.]

When we have overcome the flesh, we will enter into Christ’s rest. As long as we have this flesh we will have the temptations and struggles with them. We are ‘unclean until the evening’.

And he said, “Whoever discovers the interpretation of these sayings will not taste death.”

-Gospel of Thomas

The nature of riddle is such that the one must know the answer to discern the meaning. It is inconceivable that Jesus would teach that secret knowledge would save anyone. Were that the case he would not have had to face the cross.

Jesus taught that unless one was born again he couldn’t even see the kingdom of God. So begin the interpretation of this saying with that fact.

One who is born again can see the kingdom of God will not see death and they can discover the interpretation of the saying.

Now read it again and see that the discovering the interpretation is not the source of salvation.

We learn from this true saying that in the sensus plenior of scripture we must be careful not to impose a meaning which is not consistent with the literal Bible.

Source critics, unable to discern Sensus Plenior, speculate that the authors of the Gospels used oral tradition and other writings to compile their books. Theologians presuppose that they had special miraculous knowledge in order to use the Old Testament in novel ways. As we examine the four gospels together, we will see that their understanding of the sensus plenior increased as time passed. They studied the scriptures just as they instructed us to do:

2Ti 2:15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

What order were the gospel written?

Tradition tells us that the order of the writing of the gospels was Mark, Matthew, Luke, and John. If this is the case, then we should see evidence in their handling of sensus plenior that indicates more understanding of the hidden prophetic pictures of Christ, and the methods used to discern them with each succeeding book.

As the earliest record of the teachings of Peter, the gospel according to Mark displays only the most primitive understanding of sensus plenior.

Peter’s (Mark’s) methods

Tradition tells us that Mark’s gospel records the teachings of Peter. Peter was the first one to preach that Jesus fulfilled the prophecies of the Old Testament (Acts 2:14). Therefore, if the apostles studied the scriptures to understand sensus plenior, his teaching would be expected to use the fewest tools for interpreting the scriptures.

The Son of God

He begins his teaching with the first testimony of Jesus that he obtained before Jesus died:

Mt 16:16 And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.
Mk 1:1 ¶ The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God;

We must ask how he obtained his testimony. There is no record of a ‘special revelation’; no flashing lights, burning bush, or special messenger. But we do know that he and his brother Andrew studied the scriptures:

John 1:41 He first findeth his own brother Simon, and saith unto him, We have found the Messias, which is, being interpreted, the Christ.

As Peter observed Jesus and his miracles, he saw the prophecies being fulfilled and concluded that he was the Son of God. He begins his case that Jesus is the Son of God with the testimony of John the Baptist:

Remez

Peter ties the wilderness of Isaiah’s prophecy with the historical fact of John preaching in the wilderness:

Mk 1: 2 As it is written in the prophets, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee.
3 The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.
4 John did baptize in the wilderness, and preach the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.

Matthew had time to learn more and uses riddles to push the beginning of the story to Abraham:

Mt 1:1 ¶ The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.

The last few chapters demonstrated Matthew’s use of the new tools and a greater understanding of the sensus plenior. Both Mark and Matthew reference Jesus’s teaching that he was the stone rejected by the builder…

Mt 21:42 Jesus saith unto them, Did ye never read in the scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord’s doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes?
Mr 12:10 And have ye not read this scripture; The stone which the builders rejected is become the head of the corner:

…But Matthew ties the stone into his genealogy beginning with Abraham in the teaching of John:

Mt 3:9 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.

John as Elijah

Mark mentions Jesus’s teaching that Elijah must come first, but it is Matthew that adds that the disciples understood that Jesus was speaking of John.

Luke

Luke demonstrates that he understands a deeper meaning of John as Elijah as he sets out to give a more perfect understanding of the scriptures:

Lk 1:3 It seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write unto thee in order, most excellent Theophilus,
4 That thou mightest know the certainty of those things, wherein thou hast been instructed.

Since he was aware of Mark’s and Matthew’s gospels, he adds a deeper understanding. Luke uses drash against the record of Elijah and identifies that John specifically fulfills the prophecy of Eljah:

1Ki 17:1 And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, As the LORD God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word.

Luke understood the riddle that water represents the word of God. There would be no word of God until Elijah speaks.

There were 400 years of silence where God did not speak to Israel through prophet, priest, king or judge. Zacharias was asked to name a sign from God as an assurance that he would have the son promised to him. Since he did not name a sign, God gave him a sign in the same meaning as the prophecy. Zacharias could not speak until John was born. John, identified by Jesus as the last prophet, was the one to break the silence of God. There was no word until John. Luke has found the meaning of the prophecy that Mark and Matthew could only hint at.

Not only does Luke demonstrate a greater understanding of the hidden prophecies, but he extends the beginning of the story to Adam in his genealogy of Jesus. Mark began with the teaching of John. Matthew pushed the beginning to Abraham, and Luke has pushed it to Adam.

John

So far the methods of Remez and Drash are not difficult for us to accept because theologians use them to a small degree. The use of riddles is a bit more difficult to accept because theologians have only stumbled across instances of them thinking that they are accidents rather than the norm.
John, as the latest author, demonstrates an even deeper understanding and uses new tools to discern riddles. The tools that John uses are very strange to us, but are still common among the Jewish rabbis as they were available to the apostles and Jesus in the first century.

John begins the story before creation.

Jn 1:1 ¶ In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2 The same was in the beginning with God.
3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men.

In the beginning was the Word…

Ge 1:1 bereshit bara elohim (In the beginning created God…)

Look at the word for beginning… bereshit.

In the word bereshit is the word bara (don’t forget to ignore vowels)

In the beginning was the word… Get it? bara is in bereshit.

And the word was with God

bereshit (bara elohim) Since the word bara is next to the word Elohim, we can say the word is with God.

and the word was God

bara Elohim

Since bara is in a position to be an adjective for Elohim, the bara is an attribute of Elohim.. The word is God.

The word was the life

L’chai-im is a pun for Elohim meaning life.

The word was the light
Elo-khoom is a pun for Elohim that means ‘not dark’ or light.

Son of God

bar also means son. So John knew the Son of God (bar Elohim) was the Word, the light, the life and God all from the first three words of Genesis 1.
John understood the use of rules and tools which Mark, Matthew and Luke do not demonstrate. He had more time of study before writing his gospel to learn the rules.

The Light

When John first mentions John the Baptist’s testimony, it was a testimony that Jesus was the Light:

Jhn 1:7 The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe.
Jhn 3:19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.

John is demonstrating an understanding of the metaphoric meaning of the shadows. The light is God’s Holiness, and John the Baptist testifies that Jesus is Holy:

Jhn 1: 27 He it is, who coming after me is preferred before me, whose shoe’s latchet I am not worthy to unloose.
29 ¶ The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.
30 This is he of whom I said, After me cometh a man which is preferred before me: for he was before me.

We are permitted to discern Sensus Plenior

There is much more evidence that the apostles ‘studied’ to learn the sensus plenior as successive writers demonstrate more understanding and use more tools, which should be an encouragement to us.

The objection of scholars that we cannot discern sensus plenior should be reconsidered.

1. There is no scriptural admonition that we should not seek Christ in the scriptures. In fact we are told that they all speak of him. Those forbidding such ‘study of the scriptures’ might wish to consider if they fall under the same condemnation as the Scribes and Pharisees:
Mt 23:13 But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in.

2. The apostles encouraged us to ‘study’ and to check their teaching against the OT scripture.

3. If the apostles had a new teaching, the Jews would not have accepted it, but they showed from the scriptures that their teaching was true. We have their teaching, and we can verify it against the OT.

4. The fact that the apostles learned how to read the sensus plenior better with time, shows us that it was not a special revelation, but a hermeneutic and a method for interpreting the scriptures that we too can learn.

Last chapter we saw that Matthew had used passages and narratives from different places in relating the story of Jesus’s birth. This methods are called ‘Remez’ and ‘Drash’ by rabbis. Remez means ‘hint’ and drash means ‘compare’. The processes were both used by Matthew. First he found narratives that were linked by the idea of going into and coming out of Egypt. Then he overlaid them like transparencies so they made a single prophetic picture of Christ. Then he told us the details of how Jesus fulfilled the prophecies.
Modern theologians will tell you that Matthew could do that but that we can’t. The Apostles want us to imitate them.
2Ti 2:2 And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.

Three women at the well

There are three narratives of a woman at a well. This is practicing Remez. The first one tells of Rebekah (Ge 24), the second of Rachel (Ge 29) and the third is that of the woman at Sychar (John 4). It is enough that there is a woman at each well in order to link these narratives together, but there is more. It just so happens that all the wells are the same well.

Each narrative is individually a prophetic picture of Christ. The well represents the grave or tomb of Christ. It is a picture of the water (Word) in the ground. In the story of Rebekah, the well is open and the water is carried on her shoulder. I’ll cheat a bit by giving you metaphoric meanings that you can verify later:
Rebekah

The thigh represents the will. One places his hand on the thigh of another when promising to do his will. Walking represents living. So the thigh represents the will or purpose of one’s life. The shoulder is similar within the scope of works. The hands represent one’s works. The shoulder is the intention or purpose of one’s works. The will is the spiritual aspect of life, and the intention of works is the fleshly aspect of life. This duality is what Paul refers to when he says that he doesn’t do what he wants to do.

Rom 7: 15 For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I.

Rebekah was carrying water (Word) on her shoulder indicating that she had the Word and was willing to share it. It was her intention in her works to honor God. Prior to the cross, the Word was available to all men, but only a few chose to trust in the name of Christ:

John 1: 11 He came unto his own, and his own received him not.
12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:

Rachel

Rachel was waiting for the well (tomb) to be opened. There were three flocks of sheep waiting for water. Do you remember that the children of Abraham are described three ways: As dust [1], as sand [2], and as stars [2]?

Rachel had no water (Word), and the children of Abraham were waiting for the resurrection of Christ. This is the same desolation that is pictured other places. Christ, God incarnate, had been made to be sin [3], and his Father forsook him on the cross. Where is God on earth? How much more desolate could the earth become?

The stone was rolled away by Jacob who is the type of Christ, just as Christ rolled away the stone of his own tomb.

The woman at Sychar

There is no mention of the stone covering on the well. Now the tomb is open, as a picture of the empty tomb. The woman had come to draw water as a picture of her desire for the Word of God. Jesus proclaims that he is the living water (Word). Notice his position. The Water (Word) is outside the well (tomb).

John 4: 10 Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.

Put them together

As we overlay the narratives we will see a clearer prophetic picture of Christ.

In Remez all three wells are one well, and all three women are one woman. In fact, all three sons are one son. It is the same story told three times from three perspectives.

The first was a picture of Christ before the cross. The second is a picture of the cross (grave) and the third a picture of him in resurrection.

The first picture tells us that the Father chose the bride for the son; the second, that the son wooed the bride with a kiss, and also that he worked for her. The third tells us that the Holy Spirit gathered the bride. Ok. I need to backup to explain how the Holy Spirit is indicated in the third.

When there are three things, we will find that they are related to the Father the Son and the Holy Ghost. We can pencil in that the third story is a story about the Holy Ghost, but we should confirm it since ‘every word is established by two or three witnesses”. The word ‘Sychar’ means ‘intoxicated’ and we remember that at Pentecost when the church was filled with the Holy Spirit, people thought they were drunk (Acts 2:1-13).

The bride is Rebekah, Rachel and the woman with all the town people of Sychar.

Consider the word play of Paul:

1Co 3:6 I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.

I – Yahweh, the ‘I am’, the Father.

Apollos has Hebrew puns of ‘wonderous’, ‘marvelous’, ‘weigh’. Jesus was the marvelous wonder who was weighed in the balance for our sin.

He is the Son who did the work of ‘watering’, of pouring himself out [4].

God – ‘God is Spirit’ [5]. It is the Spirit who gathered the bride of Sychar and gave the increase.

God has chosen us:

Ac 22:14 And he said, The God of our fathers hath chosen thee, that thou shouldest know his will, and see that Just One, and shouldest hear the voice of his mouth.

He has wooed, or called us:

1Jo 4:19 We love him, because he first loved us.

Ro 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

2Ti 1:9 Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,

He has gathered us:

Mt 13:47 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind:

Joh 15:5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.

Re 14:19 And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God.

When the three narratives of the woman at the well are combined into one picture, we see a more complete picture of Christ and how he obtained his bride. Each person if the Godhead was involved. The Father chose her, the son wooed, called and worked for her, and the Holy Spirit gathered her.

We will find other verses that say the Son chose her, and that he desired to gather her. These are not contradictions, but confirmation that the Father, Son and Holy Ghost are one God.

Matthew has taught us to do Remez and Drash; to associate Bible narratives by shared words and ideas, and then to interpret them as a single prophetic picture of Christ.

Footnotes
[1] Ge 13:16 And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered.

[2] Ge 22:17 That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies;

[3] 2Co 5:21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

[4] Ps 22:14 I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels.

[5] Joh 4:24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

Matthew has taught us to solve riddles by considering puns and prophecies in a larger picture. He quotes Jer 31:15 to give us some practice:

Mt 2:18 In Rama was there a voice heard, lamentation, and weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping [for] her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not.

Children were just killed in Bethlehem. What does Rachel have to do with it?

Since Rachel was buried in Bethlehem, she is used as a riddle in the prophecy to speak of Bethlehem.

Ge 48:7 And as for me, when I came from Padan, Rachel died by me in the land of Canaan in the way, when yet [there was] but a little way to come unto Ephrath: and I buried her there in the way of Ephrath; the same [is] Bethlehem.

Riddles are based in the ambiguity of langauge. “The same is Bethlehem” could be read as “Rachel is Bethlehem” and this gives us the clue to solve Mt 2:18.

Side note

We have an interesting historical fact. Such a fact is interesting, but not required to understand the hidden prophecies. Bethlehem was the place that the sacrificial sheep, or the sheep intended to be sold in the temple, were born and raised. It is appropriate that Jesus should be born among the sacrificial sheep, since he is called the Lamb of God.

Joh 1:29 The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.
Joh 1:36 And looking upon Jesus as he walked, he saith, Behold the Lamb of God!

Using outside information can be done to add flavor to the hidden prophetic pictures, but it should never be used to derive a solution. Everything you need to get a solution is in the Bible itself. This prevents free-for-all allegory. Only the solution that God intended is authoritative.

Revisit Moses

By quoting Hosea, “Out of Egypt I called my son.” Matthew wants us to think about and review the story of the birth of Moses, Abraham in Egypt, and Joseph in Egypt. There is much to see there hidden in riddle, so we will look at a few highlights:

Ex 2:2 And the woman conceived, and bare a son: and when she saw him that he [was a] goodly [child], she hid him three months.

Moses was under a death sentence since Pharaoh had commanded all Hebrew boys to be killed when they were born. God uses several devices in riddle to indicate the death and resurrection of Christ so that he doesn’t have to actually kill people and resurrect them. This is one device: the Christ figure is under a death threat and does not die. Our attention is called to it by mentioning that Moses was hidden for three months so that we think of the three days Jesus was in the grave.

Moses was under a death threat, hidden three months and did not die. This is a prophetic picture of the cross. It is not an accident. Each verse is packed with riddles, but we will have to learn some more tricks from the apostles to see them all.

Sleep as death

The word for sleep is also used for death. This is another device used to indicate a death and resurrection. While Adam slept his bride came into being as a picture of the church coming from the death of Christ.:

Ge 2:21 ¶ And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof;

It is no coincidence that Samuel fell asleep three times . It is a prophecy hidden in riddle of Christ’s three days in the grave.

1Sa 3:3 And ere the lamp of God went out in the temple of the LORD, where the ark of God [was], and Samuel was laid down [to sleep];
1Sa 3:4 That the LORD called Samuel: and he answered, Here [am] I.
1Sa 3:5 And he ran unto Eli, and said, Here [am] I; for thou calledst me. And he said, I called not; lie down again. And he went and lay down.
1Sa 3:6 And the LORD called yet again, Samuel. And Samuel arose and went to Eli, and said, Here [am] I; for thou didst call me. And he answered, I called not, my son; lie down again.
1Sa 3:7 Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD, neither was the word of the LORD yet revealed unto him.
1Sa 3:8 And the LORD called Samuel again the third time. And he arose and went to Eli, and said, Here [am] I; for thou didst call me. And Eli perceived that the LORD had called the child.

You will find a picture of the birth of Christ in the birth of Samuel that you may wish to unpack on your own.

The narrative of Joseph has easier riddles:

Joseph was sold into Egypt because of his dreams (prophesies) that he would rule over his father and brothers. His brothers did not believe it (giving us a picture of a famine of the word), and so they first threw him in a pit that had no water.

Ge 37:24 And they took him, and cast him into a pit: and the pit [was] empty, [there was] no water in it.

Since water represents the word of God, and the pit is reminiscent of the grave, we have been given a picture of Christ in the grave. He is dead in our picture since there is no water in the pit.

Then Joseph was visited by Ishmaelites (from the east) with their camels and carried three things including myrrh, which are a parallel to the three gifts of the wise men from the east bearing three gifts. He spent three periods in a prison. The first was in the pit. The second was in prison on a false accusation (a picture of him bearing our sin). The third he was still in the same prison, but he had been forgotten by the Pharaoh’s cup bearer. Can you hear him cry “why have you forsaken me?” as Jesus did from the cross? These three periods are parallel to the three days Jesus spent in the grave.

He interpreted the dreams of the cup bearer (wine) and the baker (bread). Do you see hints that there is a story of the Lord’s supper here? The cup bearer lived, because Jesus is the living water (wine). The baker died, because Jesus said the bread represented his body which was given for us. These are not coincidences. The spirit of prophecy is the testimony of Jesus.

Re 19:10 And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See [thou do it] not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.

The whole story of Joseph contains a second narrative, besides the literal, which is hidden in riddle. As you read through the story of Joseph, you will see many clues that the narrative is there.

Moses referenced again

Mt 2:20 Saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and go into the land of Israel: for they are dead which sought the young child’s life.

Ex 4:19 And the LORD said unto Moses in Midian, Go, return into Egypt: for all the men are dead which sought thy life.

Matthew intermingles references to the accounts of Joseph and Moses so that we merge all three stories ( including the birth of Christ) into one story. He is illustrating prophetic recapitulation. The same story is told many times so that we know it is no accident of the text that it should speak of Christ.

The Nazarite

As we have seen previously, Matthew then references the law of the Nazarite as a hidden prophecy of Jesus. We use puns to see it (Nazarene – Nazarite), and then we go to the referenced scripture and see how the whole law of the Nazarite was a prophetic riddle of Christ bearing our shame on the cross.

Mt 2:23 And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, He shall be called a Nazarene.

Matthew has taken Old Testament stories and shown us that they are prophecies of Jesus. He has shown us how to use riddle, to read the whole referenced scripture, to paraphrase, and to interpret the historical account itself as a riddle.

Matthew has several lessons for us in the next section which includes all of Chapter 2.
Each portion has lessons and the whole chapter ties them together.

Visit of the Magi

When the magi visited Herod asking where the newborn king of the Jews was, Herod summoned the scribes and chief priests to ask where he was to be born. They paraphrased Micah:

Mt 2:6 And thou Bethlehem, [in] the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule (feed,shepherd) my people Israel.

Mic 5:2 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.
Mic 5:3 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.
Mic 5:4 And he shall stand and feed(shepherd) in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God; and they shall abide: for now shall he be great unto the ends of the earth.

Matthew records how the scribes and chief priests interpreted Mic 5:2 in light of the claim that the king of the Jews had been born. Originally Bethlehem was called “little” but they interpreted it as “not the least”. The sense is completely opposite due to the ambiguity of the language. You can see other ambiguities that hide the connection unless the proper word is chosen for both.

Matthew is teaching us that the prophecies are concerned with ideas, not the specific word. The word is merely a symbol to point us to the idea. Therefor a paraphrase which accurately communicates the idea is just as valid as a quote. Learning this will reduce the squabbles over words and permit us to focus on ideas. For instance, we will find that bread represents the word of God, but Jesus says it represents his body. This is not a problem because Jesus is the incarnate word of God. We can refer to bread, his body, or the word, and they all lead us to the idea of the incarnate Word of God, who has expressed himself in the written word of God. There are four animals which are said to have carried bread. They represent the prophet, priest, king and judge. Each one proclaims the word of God in their own way, but they all carry bread.
Bethlehem means ‘house of bread’ it has a pun meaning ‘house of war’ and another meaning ‘house of life’. All three puns apply to the birthplace of Jesus.

The house of war might surprise us but Jesus said he did not come to bring peace:

Mt 10:34 Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.

Connecting the dots by paraphrase

Matthew is telling the story in such a way to bring to mind the story of Moses as a child. The magi ‘from the east’ remind Herod of a prophecy of the birth of Christ which threatens his own dynasty. The new king in Egypt also had an ancient prophecy that threatened his dynasty.

Ge 15:13 And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land [that is] not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years;

You can guess where this prophecy came from. It was given to Abram while he was east of Egypt. The prophecy came from the east.

Now the magi were asked to betray the Christ child to Herod so that he could be killed. The midwives during the time of Moses were asked to do the dirty work for the king of Egypt.

Mt 2:8 And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said, Go and search diligently for the young child; and when ye have found [him], bring me word again, that I may come and worship him also.
Mt 2:16 ¶ Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently enquired of the wise men.

Ex 1:15 ¶ And the king of Egypt spake to the Hebrew midwives, of which the name of the one [was] Shiphrah, and the name of the other Puah:
Ex 1:16 And he said, When ye do the office of a midwife to the Hebrew women, and see [them] upon the stools; if it [be] a son, then ye shall kill him: but if it [be] a daughter, then she shall live.
Ex 1:22 And Pharaoh charged all his people, saying, Every son that is born ye shall cast into the river, and every daughter ye shall save alive.

Matthew has taught us to use ideas, not just words and then he immediately gives us the opportunity to apply what we have learned by playing with the ideas. I don’t think that many commentators have made the connection between the magi and the midwives, but when it is pointed out, it is easy to see. A king feels threatened and asks specific others to do their dirty work.

Each king had two conversations with the ones who were to do the dirty work. Neither the magi nor the midwives did what was requested of them by the king. When the king got angry he killed all the male children of a given age.

Both children, Moses and Jesus, escaped the threat by going into Egypt. Moses floated from Goshen into the house of Pharaoh, and Jesus was taken into Egypt. Matthew is teaching us to think of ideas rather than words to make the parallels. Paraphrases word thing differently so that we can connect ideas.

Let’s follow the idea a bit further. Who else went into Egypt and was called out of it?
Abram went into Egypt because of a famine, a lack of bread. Though Jesus was the Word of God, and the bread represents his body, he had not yet started preaching so we may say that there was a lack of bread when Joseph took Jesus into Egypt. There was a famine of the word of God. In fact, God had not spoken to Israel since Malachi 400 years earlier. Abraham was told that his people would be oppressed 400 years. When do we no longer say they are coincidences, and recognize them as design prophetic riddles?

Jacob went into Egypt because of famine and they were there 400 years as prophesied from the east.

Joseph went into Egypt as a slave, sold by his brothers. They wanted to kill him because they did not want to lose their authority to their younger brother. This should sound familiar like a king not wanting to lose his authority.

Israel is called the son of God, and they were called out of Egypt in the Exodus.

Ex 4:22 And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, Thus saith the LORD, Israel [is] my son, [even] my firstborn:
Ex 4:23 And I say unto thee, Let my son go, that he may serve me: and if thou refuse to let him go, behold, I will slay thy son, [even] thy firstborn.

Abraham, Joseph, Israel and Jesus all went into Egypt because of a famine. And they all were called out of Egypt. (Don’t forget that the Israelites carried the bones of Joseph with them when they left Egypt). This is called prophetic recapitulation. The same prophecy is repeated in different ways so that we don’t miss it. We only see the parallel when we paraphrase it.

To solve the biblical riddles, the prophetic pictures of Christ, Matthew teaches us to think in big ideas rather than getting lost in details. The details are still important, but we must be able to pull back and see the big picture from time to time. All of the hidden pictures of the son being called out of Egypt are one prophecy of Christ in which each story focuses on different details. We learn to focus on the big picture by recognizing that a proper paraphrase has the same authority as a quote.

Matthew taught us to use puns as we interpret the prophetic pictures of Christ. The Lord will make a virgin conceive and bear a son and his name will be called Immanuel. Now the prophecy still isn’t very precise. His name was not Emanuel. But as we dig a bit deeper we find that the word for ‘name’ also means ‘reputation’. Jesus certainly has a reputation of being God with us.

But there is another lesson in the prophecy.

Mt 1:22 Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying,
Is 7:14 Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

The quoted verse is pointing to the whole prophecy of Isaiah, not just the verse quoted. Not all the details of word play are given, but having the solutions will help you discover them.

Is 7:15 Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse the evil, and choose the good.

He shall learn wisdom of heaven and earth to refuse evil and choose the good.

Is 7:16 For before the child shall know to refuse the evil, and choose the good, the land that thou abhorrest shall be forsaken of both her kings.

Before his coming of age, Israel will lose both her earthly king and her heavenly king. She will be forsaken as a prophetic shadow of Christ’s desolation on the cross.

How had Israel lost her earthly and heavenly king before Jesus had become of age? The earthly king, a position held by Herod was lost because Herod wasn’t a Jewish king, he was a son of Esau. The Jews no longer had their own king.

Remember that riddles are made from ambiguity. When did Jesus learn to refuse evil and choose the good? Certainly he had a sinless life. But he faced the temptation of the cross all the way to Gethsemane. He did not want to die. His final choice of choosing the good was in his prayer, “Nevertheless, thy will be done”. Now we have a different timeframe from his ‘coming of age’.

When Jesus had entered Jerusalem a few days earlier, riding on a donkey, the crowds had welcomed him as a king. He was offering himself as the heavenly king, not as an earthly king, and the next day they rejected him crying “Crucify him”. At that moment, they lost their heavenly king. Gethsemane happened that night.

Is 7:17 The LORD shall bring upon thee, and upon thy people, and upon thy father’s house, days that have not come, from the day that Ephraim departed from Judah; even the king of Assyria.

The LORD shall bring upon thee, and upon thy people, and upon thy father’s house, days that have not come, from the crucifixion, the king of the blessed.

Matthew has pointed to this prophecy to show us that history is a metaphoric prophecy of Christ. The virgin that conceived in the days of the prophecy was a prophetic riddle of the birth of Christ. The day that Ephraim departed from Judah is a prophetic riddle of the cross. It is a riddle which is nearly impossible to solve by itself, but once you see that every time there are two things which are split, that it is a prophetic riddle of the cross, then the splitting of Ephraim and Judah fits right into the pattern. The water which is parted in the Red Sea and the Jordan river, the rock which is split, the veil which is torn, the tablets of the law which are broken are all the same picture of the cross and can be used as hints to solve the larger riddles in which they are embedded.

The king of the blessed will come from the cross.

Is 7:18 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the LORD shall hiss for the fly that is in the uttermost part of the rivers of Egypt, and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria.

And it shall come to pass in that day, that the LORD shall have grace for the foolish that are ‘halting between two opinions’, and those who are wise in the land of the blessed.

Matthew is telling us to read the whole prophecy and unpack the solution in order to know the full story that he is telling. The birth of Christ looks forward to the cross where the sins of man will be forgiven.

This is a rule I have found to be generally true. A reference to a prophecy is just a pointer to the whole prophecy. When Jesus says that he will only give the sign of Jonah, he is referencing the whole book of Jonah as a sign of Christ, not just that he was three days in the fish.
I have only found one exception:

Lu 4:18 The Spirit of the Lord [is] upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,
Lu 4:19 To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.
Lu 4:20 And he closed the book, and he gave [it] again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him.

Jesus quit reading in mid-sentence. What he did not read was “and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn;” He quit because that part of prophecy had not been fulfilled yet.
We can think of the gospels as outlines to the Old Testament. As Matthew taught and reasoned with the Jews, he would begin with the genealogy of Jesus and work through the riddles and prophecies, then he would move on to the story of his birth and again jump back to the scriptures to show how they had been fulfilled. This is how the apostles preached Jesus Christ according to the revelation of the mystery.

Ro 16:25 ¶ Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began,

The Gnostics had it backwards, they read the next verse to say that the wisdom of God is presently a mystery, and they teach it in hidden wisdom.

1Co 2:7 But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, [even] the hidden [wisdom], which God ordained before the world unto our glory:

But the apostles spoke openly of the wisdom, the riddles of God which were a mystery and hidden, from the beginning of time. The Gnostics were like snotty children, saying “We have a secret and we’re not going to tell you!” The apostles had been given the ‘keys to the kingdom’, the tools to unlock the mystery in the knowledge of Christ, and they were broadcasting it.

Once you read the gospels in this light, you can see Peter’s personality in the book of Mark (the earliest gospel to be written) explaining what happened in detail beginning with John the Baptist. Then Matthew follows up, having had more time to study the scriptures and starts the story earlier with the genealogy of Christ telling more of the prophecy that was fulfilled. Then Dr. Luke even says that he was going to give an even more detailed account of the mystery revealed, and he shares even more of the prophecies that were fulfilled.

1 ¶ Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us,
2 Even as they delivered them unto us, which from the beginning were eyewitnesses, and ministers of the word;
3 It seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write unto thee in order, most excellent Theophilus,
4 That thou mightest know the certainty of those things, wherein thou hast been instructed.

Then John pops in and introduces us to an even more sublime method of seeing the Old Testament prophecies as he interprets the first three words of Genesis 1 into the first four verses of John 1. Even as apostles, there is a friendly competition among them to reveal more of the hidden prophecies of Christ.

Matthew has taught us to read the whole prophecy which is referenced. Next he will teach us to link multiple prophecies together.

Matthew taught us to use puns when interpreting scripture and then by using the pun, we saw that Jesus fulfilled the law of the Nazarite. Some of you noticed that Jesus took some vinegar while on the cross, and noticed that the Nazarite is not allowed to drink vinegar. Please congratulate yourself if you noticed this.

The law of the Nazarite is a prophetic picture of Christ. Christ was not a Nazarite. When Matthew tells us that there is a prophecy that Jesus would be called a Nazarene, he is playing the riddle game.

In the riddle game, contradictions do not make something false, they are clues that there is more to discover. Jesus is the Unbegotten Only Son, the Only Begotten Son and the Second Son. That sure sounds like a mouthful of contradictions, but they aren’t. Each title tells us something about Christ, which is true. As the Unbegotten Only Son, he is the eternal second person of the Godhead. As the Only Begotten Son, he is the only son God had in the flesh literally. The other “sons of God” like Adam, Israel, Solomon, etc. were ‘adopted’ as sons to paint prophetic pictures of Christ. Jesus was literally the biological son of God having been born of Mary’s X chromosome, and a Y chromosome provided miraculously by God. This is why he is called the ‘seed of the woman’ or the ‘offspring of the woman’ because he had no human father.

Ge 3:15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

Jesus was not a Nazarite
The outward symbols surrounding his death, such as his ‘vow’ not to drink the wine, the unused tomb, etc., point to the spiritual reality.

The reality is that
• he bore our sins,
• he did not partake of grace or law since he was the source of grace and law and
• he was undefiled even in death.

So why the contradiction? To get us to look closer at what happened.

The word for vinegar is the same word as for leaven, which is ‘teaching’. Jesus has in fact, not taken a literal Nazarite vow. There was nothing preventing him from taking literal vinegar. Just like all the other ‘contradictions’ such as being the first son and the second son, or the unbegotten son and the only begotten son, he can be a Nazarite figuratively and not be a Nazarite literally at the same time.

Apparent contradictions are invitations to look closer:

Mt 27:46 And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?
Mt 27:47 Some of them that stood there, when they heard [that], said, This [man] calleth for Elias.
Mt 27:48 And straightway one of them ran, and took a spunge, and filled [it] with vinegar, and put [it] on a reed, and gave him to drink.
Joh 19:29 Now there was set a vessel full of vinegar: and they filled a spunge with vinegar, and put [it] upon hyssop, and put [it] to his mouth.

The offer of vinegar (and hyssop) is in the context of a response to his cry of being forsaken. It answers the question “Why have you forsaken me?”

Since ‘leaven’ and ‘vinegar’ represent ‘teaching’, the vinegar is a teaching specifically of hyssop. Hyssop (ayzobe) has the pun ‘Ezbay’ which means ‘my humbling’. The Father forsakes him for the express purpose of teaching him obedience through suffering (humbling).

Heb 5:8 Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered;

These are two things that God had never experienced. There was no one for him to be obedient to, and he had never suffered. When we suffer, we usually blame God for it. Jesus suffered willingly because it was the only way our sins could be forgiven.

Heb 9:22 And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.

We have another ‘contradiction’ between Matthew and John, one says ‘reed’ and the other says ‘hyssop’.

The reed is the same word for rod or staff. There is some confusion in translation of the Hebrew word since there are two words used for rod and staff, but they are each translated as rod and staff. In the Greek we don’t know which it is. This is because the two are just two aspects of the same thing. The rod is used for discipline and judgement. It is used against the enemies of the sheep to protect them, this is judgment, but it is used against the sheep for discipline. They learn to shy away from the rod and so it cannot be used to gentle them and give them comfort. Yet we know we are God’s sheep by the discipline he gives us.

Pr 3:11 My son, despise not the chastening of the LORD; neither be weary of his correction:
Pr 15:5 ¶ A fool despiseth his father’s instruction: but he that regardeth reproof is prudent.

The shepherd uses a different instrument to extend his reach and give comfort. The staff, with the hook, is used to draw the animal close. But the two instruments are two aspects of the same thing.

Pr 15:5 ¶ A fool despiseth his father’s instruction: but he that regardeth reproof is prudent.

Matthew is saying that the teaching is one of discipline-judgment, when he uses ‘reed’.

Popular typology says that leaven is ‘sin’, but this verse ‘corrects’ the error of thinking that leaven is sin.
Leaven cannot be ‘sin’ since heaven is liken to it:

Mt 13:33 Another parable spake he unto them; The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened.

Likewise ‘sin’ does not make any sense for vinegar in this picture, whereas ‘teaching’ fits the bill.

Oh. and we can also observe that it was put to his mouth, the instrument of his teaching. The teacher is being taught. When you teach, the words come out of your mouth. When you learn, the words go into your mouth:

Eze 2:8 But thou, son of man, hear what I say unto thee; Be not thou rebellious like that rebellious house: open thy mouth, and eat that I give thee.
Eze 2:9 And when I looked, behold, an hand [was] sent unto me; and, lo, a roll of a book [was] therein;
Eze 2:10 And he spread it before me; and it [was] written within and without: and [there was] written therein lamentations, and mourning, and woe.
Eze 3:1 ¶ Moreover he said unto me, Son of man, eat that thou findest; eat this roll, and go speak unto the house of Israel.
Eze 3:4 And he said unto me, Son of man, go, get thee unto the house of Israel, and speak with my words unto them.

Matthew uses the phrase ‘gave to drink’ to remind us of the ‘bitter cup’.

Lu 22:42 Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.

Bitter is the same word for ‘filthy’ and ‘lifted up’. ‘Gave him to drink’ references the filthy cup, which was lifted up as a symbol of Christ, the cup, who had been made to be sin (filthy), and was lifted up (on the cross). Matthew is giving us a second confirmation that he is referring to the teaching of the cross.

By the way, the word for ‘bitter is ‘mara’ which is a pun of ‘myrrh’. Now we have solved the riddle of the gift of myrrh at his birth.

Mt 2:11 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.

Gold represents divinity. Frankincense is a sweet smelling incense representing the sweet savor of the burnt offering, which itself represents Jesus’s total devotion to the Father even to death, He was totally consumed in his passion of obedience to the Father. And now we know that myrrh represents the cross itself. It is the bitter cup.

The three gifts represent his divinity, his total devotion to the father, and the promise of the cross. What a birthday present! He was born to die for us, so that our sins may be forgiven.

Mt 1:21 And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.

We have seen that apparent contradictions are invitations to look closer for riddles. In this case, the hints that Jesus was fulfilling the prophecy hidden in the law of the Nazarite were contradicted by the fact he took vinegar on the cross. As we examined it, we discovered that the offer of vinegar and hyssop was itself, a picture of Christ on the cross, which answered the question, of why the Father forsook him. He was forsaken in order to learn obedience through suffering.