The Strand Study Bible

MATTHEW 3:1

MATTHEW 3:7

1487

1. See - Isa 40:3 & Mal 3:1 2. that is, “the Savior of the world, the future King of the earth, is now on the scene” - Dan 2:44 3. Quoted from the OT - Isa 40:3 4. Lev 11:22 5. Mk 1:4 & Acts 10:37 & 13:23-24 & 19:3-4 6. Fulfilled - Rev 19:11-21 (Christ’s Second Coming)

preaching in the wilderness of Judaea, PF 2 And saying, Repent ye: for the 2 KING- DOM OF HEAVEN is at hand. 3 For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, 3 The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD ( JEHOVAH ), make his paths straight. 4 And the same John had his raiment of camel’s hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins; and his meat was 4 locusts and wild honey. 5 Then went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judaea, and all the region round about Jordan, 6 And were 5 baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins. The promise of Wrath when CHRIST returns (Fulfilled - Rev 19:11-21) 7 But when he saw many of the Phari- sees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the 6 WRATH to come? P

MEDITERRANEAN SEA

Nazareth •

EGYPT

RED SEA

(See - I Thess 1:10 & 5:9 & Rev 6:16)

CHRIST grows up in Nazareth Map #5 Matthew 3 The ministry of John the Baptist (S/A - Mk 1:1-8 & Lk 3:1-18) Date - AD 28 1 In those days came 1 John the Baptist,

3:2 This word ( Repent ) is the Greek word PHτDQοHZ ( metanoeo ). Metanoeo is taken from two Greek words: PHτD ( meta - meaning “ after ”) and QοHZ (noeo - meaning “ mind ”). The word literally means “ after thought ” ( II Cor 7:8-10 ). True repentance means “to change your mind about what you believe and agree with what God says, and then confess it I Jn 1:9 a ). God tells us that there are two areas in which we must repent, if we are to be saved. We must change our minds as to: 1. Who we are (Lk 5:31-32 & 13:1-5 and Mt 27:3 ) God tells us that we are “sinfully” sick and in need of the Savior and that we cannot save ourselves (Rom 3:10,23). 2. Who CHRIST is (Mt 4:13-17 & 11:20-24, Mk 1:15, Acts 3:12-19 and Acts 2:38 a ) Christ is God (Jn 8:24,58-59), not a god. Christ is the only Savior (Acts 4:10-12). 3:3 According to Isaiah 40:3, Jesus is LORD ( Jehovah ). John 1:6-10 tells us that John the Baptist was called to be the forerunner to the promised OT MESSIAH , i.e., to prepare the way of Jehovah . 3:7 According to history, the Medo-Persian Empire exercised control over Judea for about a century after the Old Testament ended with the prophet Malachi (c. 425 BC). Although this period (c. 425-333 BC) was relatively uneventful, the Medo-Persian government controlled the Judean high priests, degrading the priesthood into a political office. Following the defeat of the Medo- Persian Empire by Alexander the Great and the Greeks in 333 BC, much of the Jewish priesthood was Hellenized (took on Greek thought). For the next 170 years there would be strife between the Hellenistic Jews and the orthodox Jews, until an aged orthodox priest by the name of Mattathias, along with his sons, waged guerrilla warfare against the Syrians and Jewish Hellenistic thought. By 164 BC, Judas Maccabee (one of Mattathias’ sons) had gained control of Jerusalem. For the next twenty years, struggles would continue between the Maccabees and the Seleucids. NOTE - According to The Ryrie Study Bible , the “ Pharisees ” were the spiritual descendants of the pious Jews who had fought the Hellenizers in the days of the earlier Maccabees. The name “ Pharisee” , (meaning separatist) was probably given them by their enemies to indicate that they were nonconformists… Loyalty to truth sometimes produces pride and even hypocrisy, and it is this perversion of the earlier Pharisaic ideal that is denounced by Jesus. The Sadducees , probably named for Zadok, the high priest appointed by Solomon (I Ki 2:35), made up the Sadducean party. They denied the authority of tradition and looked with suspicion on all revelation later than the Mosaic law. They denied the doctrine of the resurrection, and they did not believe in the existence of angels or spirits (Acts 23:3). They were largely people of wealth and position, and they cooperated gladly with the Hellenism of the day. In the New Testament times the Sadducees controlled the priesthood and the Temple ritual, whereas the Synagogue was the stronghold of the Pharisees. 1

1 Ryrie, Charles C. The Ryrie Study Bible , Chicago, IL, Moody Press. 1978. Print.