Why Did Joseph Choose Nazareth?

This is our Understanding the Scriptures segment, we’re in the gospel of Matthew chapter 2, and we’re going to pick up with verse 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.And he arose, and took the young child and his mother, and came into the land of Israel.But when he heard that Archelaus did reign in Judea in the room of his father Herod, he was afraid to go thither: notwithstanding, being warned of God in a dream, he turned aside into the parts of Galilee.”

Dave:

Tom, you’re reading from the King James, and, “in the room of his father” thither or hither or whatever, I don’t see the problem.You go to Europe, in the fourth grade they’re studying Latin, and in Switzerland the milk carton is written in French and German and Italian.They study all kinds of languages, they’re fluent in many languages, why can’t we learn King James English, because it’s the language of Shakespeare, it’s the language of culture, of history and literature, and so forth.But anyway—

Tom:

Well, Dave, let’s talk about that for a minute.This is your Bible of choice; this is what you grew up with, the King James.I do stumble over it, and as I read most of the verses, my “thithers” get a little problematic from time to time.But on the other hand, as I mentioned in the previous segment, I like to work with young people, and I hold to the text that the King James is from, certainly as opposed to Vaticanus and Alexandria, and so on.But when I am teaching young people, as we mentioned, it’s sort of a problem because they’re sort of brought up on entertainment, they have a short attention span, and if I don’t have to explain words that have a different meaning today, then, you know, I think I am in better shape.For example, things like conversation, any conversation; conversation is what people talk about.No, the King James means their conduct in their life, so if I don’t have to explain that it just saves me a little bit of time.When the King James says God is pitiful, well, we know that that means He is full of pity, but that can trip up a young person.What do you mean, God’s pitiful?So, there are a number of things like that, that it’s just—I could say it’s more convenient for teaching young people, but I do like the King James.But for some people that’s not enough, they would take you to task when you correct some of the King James, and some of it needs to be corrected, the translators missed a few things here and there.But just saying that, we’re going to get letters like you can’t believe!

Dave:

Well, that’s another big subject, Tom.But anyway, the complaints that many people give—Well, I can’t understand the King James.Well, you would understand it if you’re reading Shakespeare, it’s the same kind of language.Well anyway, I shouldn’t have raised that, Tom; we got off the subject here.

Tom:

Yeah, but that’s a point.I think people who, you know, we do get letters that say, well, what versions you use, do you prefer, and so on.Again, it can become almost a volatile issue, which is really too bad.

Dave:

Well, Tom, it is true, we are dumbing down education in America.We have dumbed it down.I mean, I’ve lived in Europe a couple of times; they are so much ahead of us in Europe as far as education.

Tom:

The Asian countries as well, Dave.

Dave:

Oh yeah, the U. S. is down near the bottom of third world countries.So anyway, all I am saying is, I think it wouldn’t be problem, in fact it might even be helpful to learn a little King James English, but that was a moot point, so we better move on.They came back to the land of Israel, as the angel had told them to do, and they heard that Archelaus, Herod’s son was really in his stead.Well, they knew that Herod was dead.Well, Joseph, I guess made a decision on his own.It doesn’t say the angel told him or warned him about that, and decided not to go back.We had a discussion about this, I think last week, or it was the week before.The wise men—when they came it wasn’t to the stable, but it says they came to the house.And so it was, maybe at least a year probably, it took them a while to make this journey.But Herod was going to be safe, so he had all the babies killed from two years and down.So, they were living, I believe, in Bethlehem up to that point, in a house now.They have moved out of the stable into a house.Well, they didn’t go back to the house in Bethlehem; they turned aside and went to Nazareth.

Tom:

Verse 23:“And when 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.”

Dave:

Well, I don’t think that it means that Joseph, knowing the prophecy, he then picked Nazareth.That would be like the skeptics, oh, well, Jesus knew the prophecy, that he was going to be betrayed for 30 pieces of silver, and he told Judas about it, and so they conspired.That was the old film and it didn’t get very far in the book, The Passover Plot, you remember that?No, I don’t think he did that.You don’t have to fulfill prophecy by making it happen.And I think that would kind of ruin it if Joseph even knew that.The disciples, they didn’t know most of the prophecies.

Tom:

Well, Dave, that brings another question:What prophecy says that He shall be called a Nazarene?

Dave:

Well, Tom, that’s a tough one that the skeptics and atheists raise.There is no prophecy that says He would be called a Nazarene.But it doesn’t say prophecy, it says, spoken by the prophets.So there is no one prophecy that says this in so many words.Well then, how would we relate that?Well, can any good thing come out of Nazareth, or search the Scriptures; does a prophet arise out of Nazareth?

Tom:

So these are objections to that Jesus might be the Messiah.And the point of the objection was what good thing?So Nazareth had a bad name, this was a despised place.

Dave:

Right, and he certainly wasn’t despised.So I would say there are a number of prophets—David says it in Psalm 22, they have hated me without a cause, and you get crucifixion coming there.Yeah, but a couple of times at least in Isaiah:53:3He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
See All..., He is despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows acquainted with grief—we hid, as it were, our faces from Him.Well, if Nazareth was a place with a bad reputation, it was kind of like the despised section of Israel that certainly would fit as well.So, there is no prophecy that says He will be called a Nazarene.But certainly the prophets agreed that He would be despised like the Nazarenes were.

Tom:

Dave, we’ll pick up with Chapter 3, I’ll just read the first verse, and we’ve got about a minute and a half.“In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, And saying, Repent ye:for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

Dave:

Yeah, the kingdom of heaven is at and, we’ll all ponder that, because it was at hand, the King was there, and had they—well; it’s a good question, if they received Him and put him up as King, then—well, they couldn’t make him their King because the Romans were in charge.But they rejected Him and the prophets foretold that they would reject him.But then people say, Well, supposing they had, then He wouldn’t have been crucified.But the fact is that they were not going to, but He still offered it to them.

Tom:

The other thing I want to talk about next week is John the Baptist, here is a really interesting Biblical character, and we’ll go over that next week.