The Sermon on the Mount (Mt. 5-7) is patterned after the giving of the law at Mount Sinai (Exo. 19-24). Jesus, the prophet like unto Moses (Dt. 18:15-19; Jn. 1:21,25,45), is the lawgiver. His disciples, including us, are the new Israel, “a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people” (1 Pet. 2:9; Exo. 19:5-6). The new law is an expanded version of the old law. Jesus reinterprets the commandments, giving them their true underlying spirit, in contrast to the legalistic letter-of-the-law interpretations of the scribes and Pharisees (see 2 Cor. 3). “(We) are not come unto the mount that might be touched, and that burned with fire, nor unto blackness, and darkness, and tempest, and the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words…but (we) are come unto mount Zion…and to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant…” (Heb. 12:18-25).
In chapters 1-7 Matthew creates a detailed progression of parallels with Genesis and Exodus leading up to connections between the giving of the law at Mount Sinai by Moses and the delivering of the Sermon on the Mount by Jesus. Matthew leaves a scriptural trail showing that he, inspired by the Spirit of God, intended for us to see these parallels. This first article covers parallels in Matthew 1-4.
- Generations — Matthew opens, “The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham” (1:1). Genesis is the book of “generations” (Gk. genesis). “These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created” (2:4); “This is the book of the generations of Adam” (5:1); and so on. There are 11 “generations” of this kind in Genesis. There are two more in the Old Testament (Num. 3:1; Ruth 4:18) which deal with the genealogies of Moses and David. That makes Jesus Christ the fourteenth “generation” (Mt. 1:1), just as Matthew points out in Mt. 1:17.
- A son promised — God had said unto Abraham, “Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac” (Gen. 17:19). Following this pattern, Matthew records the words of the angel, “Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus: for he shall save his people from their sins” (1:20-21). In both cases, the husband is told that his wife would bear a son whose name is foretold.
- Joseph dreams — In Genesis, Joseph, the son of Jacob, dreamed dreams (Gen. 37:5,9, etc.). In Matthew, Joseph, also the son of Jacob (1:16), dreams dreams (1:20,2:13,19).
- Bow to him — In his blessing of Jacob, Isaac said, “Let people serve thee, And nations bow down to thee: Be lord over thy brethren, and let thy mother’s sons bow down to thee” (Gen. 27:29). Similarly, Joseph’s dreams predicted the same would be true of him (Gen. 37:7,9,10). Indeed, Moses records the fulfillment of Joseph’s dreams: “And Joseph was the governor over the land, and he it was that sold to all the people of the land: and Joseph’s brethren came, and bowed down themselves before him with their faces to the earth…And when Joseph came home, they brought him the present which was in their hand into the house, and bowed themselves to him to the earth…And they bowed down their heads, and made obeisance” (Gen. 42:6; 43:26,28; see also 44:14). They not only bowed down before Joseph making obeisance, they also brought him presents.
In like manner, Matthew writes, “Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him…And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshiped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented them unto him gifts” (2:1-2,11).
- Into Egypt — Moses wrote, “And God spake unto Israel in the visions of the night, and said, Jacob, Jacob. And he said, Here am I. And he said, I am God, the God of thy father: fear not to go down into Egypt; for I will there make of thee a great nation: I will go down with thee into Egypt; and I will also surely bring thee up again: and Joseph shall put his hand upon thine eyes…And these are the names of the children of Israel, which came into Egypt” (Gen. 46:2-4,8; see also Exo. 1:1). Earlier Moses had written, “And Joseph said unto his brethren…for God did send me before you to preserve life…And God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance…Haste ye, and go up to my father, and say unto him, Thus saith thy son Joseph, God hath made me lord of all Egypt: come down unto me, tarry not: and thou shalt dwell in the land of Goshen” (Gen. 45:4,5,7,9-10).
After the episode with the wise men, Matthew writes, “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 there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him. When he arose, he took the young child and his mother by night, and departed into Egypt” (Mt. 2:13-14). In short, Moses’ Joseph led his family into Egypt, and so did Matthew’s.
- Male children slain — Moses recorded, “And the king of Egypt spake to the Hebrew midwives…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…And Pharaoh charged all his people, saying, Every son that is born ye shall cast into the river” (Exo. 1:15,16,22). Similarly, Matthew records, “Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the (male, RV) 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 inquired of the wise men” (Mt. 2:16). In both cases, Gentile kings had Jewish sons killed.
- Deliver from exile — Matthew adapts another phrase used in Exodus. “And the Lord said unto Moses in Midian, Go, return into Egypt: for all the men are dead which sought thy life (Exo. 4:19). “But when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeareth in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, 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” (Mt. 2:19-20). Each deliverer could return from exile because those who sought his life were now dead.
- A son out of Egypt — Matthew says that this was all done “that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I called my son” (Mt. 2:15). But Hos. 11:1, “When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt,” refers back to Exo. 4:22-23, “And thou (Moses) shalt say unto Pharaoh, Thus saith the Lord, Israel is my son, even my firstborn: 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.” This is one of many specific signposts that Matthew has put on the trail to assure us that we are on track.
- Baptism — In Exodus 14, the children of Israel pass through the waters of the Red Sea (see esp. vv. 15,16,21-22,29; 15:19). Paul says that this was their baptism. “All our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; and were baptized unto Moses in the cloud and the sea” (1 Cor. 10:1-2). Likewise, Matthew records the baptism of Jesus. “Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him…And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water” (Mt. 3:13,16).
- To the wilderness — Immediately after their baptism in the Red Sea, the children of Israel went into the wilderness to be proved by God (Exo. 15:22,25;16:4). Moses exhorted, “All the commandments which I command thee this day shall ye observe to do, that ye may live, and multiply, and go in and possess the land which the Lord sware unto your fathers. And thou shalt remember all the way which the Lord thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no” (Dt. 8:1-2). Likewise, immediately after his baptism, Jesus went into the wilderness to be tempted. “Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil” (Mt. 4:1).
- 40-days fast — Jesus fasted in the wilderness for forty days and forty nights (Mt. 4:2) just as Moses had fasted in the mount for forty days and forty nights (Exo. 24:18; 34:28; Dt. 9:9,18).
- Trial of hunger — The temptations of Jesus parallel the temptations of the children of Israel. “And the whole congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness: and the children of Israel said unto them, Would to God we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh pots, and when we did eat bread to the full; for ye have brought us forth into this wilderness, to kill this whole assembly with hunger” (Exo. 16:2-3). Looking back on this episode Moses explained, “And (God) humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live” (Dt. 8:3).
Likewise, “When (Jesus) had fasted for forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungered. And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. But he answered and said, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God” (Mt. 4:2-4).
- Tempting God — “Wherefore the people did chide with Moses, and said, Give us water that we may drink. And Moses said unto them, Why chide ye with me? wherefore do ye tempt the Lord?…And he called the name of the place Massah (Tempting), and Meribah (Chiding), because of the chiding of the children of Israel, and because they tempted the Lord, saying, Is the Lord among us or not? (Exo. 17:2,7). Moses later exhorted, “Ye shall not tempt the Lord your God, as ye tempted him in Massah” (Dt. 6:16).
Matthew writes, “Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple, and saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written (in Psa. 91, which, according to the title of Psa. 90, is a Prayer of Moses), He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: And in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God” (Mt. 4:5-7).
- False worship — Exodus 32 records that the children of Israel made and worshiped a golden calf. “And (Aaron) received them at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten calf: and they said, These be thy gods, 0 Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt” (Exo. 32:4). This act directly disobeyed the first two commandments (Exo. 20:2-6). Moses later wrote, “And it shall be, when the Lord thy God shall have brought thee into the land which he sware unto thy fathers…then beware lest thou forget the Lord, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt from the house of bondage. Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God, and serve him, and shalt swear by his name. Ye shall not go after other gods, of the gods of the people which are round about you; (For the Lord thy God is a jealous God among you) lest the anger of the Lord thy God be kindled against thee, and destroy thee from off the face of the earth” (Dt. 6:10,12-15).
Matthew writes, “Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; and he saith, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve” (Mt. 4:8-10).
- Assistants chosen — Moses chose 70 elders that received the Spirit of God so they could help him rule Israel (Exo. 18:24-26; 24:1,9; Num. 11:1617). In like manner, Jesus chose disciples that would receive the Holy Spirit so they could help him rule the new Israel (Mt. 4:18-22; 10:1; Acts 2:1-4).
- Commands from the mount -Finally, in Exodus 19, the children of Israel arrive at the mountain to receive the law from Moses. Likewise, Matthew states, “And seeing the multitudes, (Jesus) went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him: and he opened his mouth, and taught them” (Mt. 5:1-2).
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One