Book of Matthew – Summary Highlights

June 7, 2009

T. Farnham

• All of the lessons, handouts are on the web page are available at: www.christian-education-online.net These lessons delve into the Hebraic roots of Matthew and the Hebrew scriptural foundation of what is written in the New Testament. 
• 6,828 times the Sacred Name of God, YHWH, (Tetragrammaton) is used in the Old Testament and also in the New Testament when it is quoting the Old Testament where the Name YHWH appears. Why did the Name disappear and replaced by the title “Lord God”?
• Original order of the New Testament books was not the same as the New Testament of today.  James (originally titled Jacob) not Romans followed Acts as the first of the epistles followed by Peter, John and Jude.  Who changed the order and why?
• The Book of Matthew was written by a Jew, to the Jews about a Jew.  We know from recent research that it was composed very early, probably around 50 AD and was written in Hebrew.
• There are 154 distinct commandments in the New Testaments:

Love (22); Holiness & Separation (40); Suffering and Non-Resistance (12); Money and Wealth (11); Marriage and Family (13); Worship (4); General Topics (52).  Pretty concise when you consider how many laws we have today in this country. 

• There are 613 commandments (Mitzvots) in the Old Testament:

God (10), Torah (6), Signs and Symbols (5), Prayer and Blessings (4), Love and Brotherhood (14), The Poor and Unfortunate (13), Treatment of Gentiles (6), Marriage, Divorce and Family (23), Forbidden Sexual Relations (25), Times and Seasons (36), Dietary Laws (27), Business Practices (14), Employees, Servants and Slaves (19); Vows, Oaths and Swearing (7); The Sabbatical and Jubilee Years (17); The Court and Judicial Procedures (36); Injuries and Damages (4); Property and Property Rights (11); Criminal Laws (97); Punishment and Restitution (24); Prophecy (3);  Idolatry, Idolaters and Idolatrous Practices (46); Agriculture and Animal Husbandry(7); Clothing(3); The Firstborn (4); Kohanim (Priests) and Levites (29); Tithes and Taxes (24); The Temple, The Sanctuary and Sacred Objects (33); Sacrifices and Offerings (65); Ritural Purity and Impurity (16); Lepers and Leprosy (4); The King (7); Nazarites (10);Wars (16).

• Jesus often quoted Talmudic teachings of the Pharisees’ called Mishnahs.  It turns out that there are Talmudic and Scriptural basis for all that Jesus taught.  Consequently there is a very close linkage between the Old and New Testaments, especially as seen in the Book of Matthew.  For instance, the teachings that Jesus provided in the Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 5, 6, & 7) were well understood by his audience and probably were well known and understood prior to Jesus saying them.
• The scriptures at the time of Jesus (Old Testament) were very well understood, studied and known by most Jewish men at that time.  All Jewish boys were to be able to read and write Hebrew Scriptures by the age of 13 when they officially became a man in that society (Bar Mitzvah).  Jewish believers strongly believed that God’s scriptures contained all that was needed in life and thus were the basis of their faith and practice.
• Dispensationalists reason that before the Cross salvation was by obedience to the Law of the Old Testament since salvation was by grace alone  -- “antinomianism” (around 1820 by J.N. Darby and refined later by Cyrus Scofield and his version of the KJV bible).
• It can be argued that Old Testament believers were saved by grace which enabled believers to keep His commandments.  Paul’s teaching in Rom. 1:17 (the one who is righteous will live by faith” is a quote of Hab. 2:4.  Romans 10:6-8 quotes Deut. 30:11-14.  Abraham is presented in the New Testament as the great example of the life of faith (Romans 4 and Galatians 3; a reflection of Gen. 26:5.  The Ceremonial Laws did cease at the cross. 
• Hebrews 7:11-28 claims that Christ’s heavenly high priesthood has replaced the ministry of earthly priests in their Israelite temple.  Once He became our heavenly high priest the work was no longer necessary for the earthly priests to function.  The Law is in now in the heart of the believer.  Grace is the “means” and obedience is the “result”.  
• Sabbaths:  There are weekly Sabbaths and also other annual ones for the seven Biblical Holy Days.  The weekly Sabbaths begin at dusk on Friday and continues to the setting of the sun on Saturday.  Preparation was made in advanced by cooking food, taking the weekly bath and having clean cloths so that minimal work would have to be done during the Sabbath.  It was a family resting time.
• Jesus (Yeshua) the Messiah (Anointed One) spoke in the Galilean dialect of the ancient Aramaic language.  This is the language in which the disciples and the apostles (Missionaries) preached the Gospel and the scribes recorded the Scriptures.  That is why their speech was easily distinguishable by those in Jerusalem and they quickly knew they were from the Galilean area. 
• The Peshitta version in Aramaic was written before the Christian era (325) and appears to have been translation of the Old Syriac version.  A copy exists in England from that era. 
• The Biblical year begins on the first new moon after the greening of the barley leaves (Ex. 12:1), the month of Abib or now called Nisan.  Thus God sets the year, not the sun.  All the other Hebrew months are relative to the first one which can change each year depending on when the barley turns green in the ear.  It is not Biblically possible to forecast what day the next new years will be because of the determination set by the greening of the barley leaves.  Therefore God and not the sun is in control of the Biblical year.
• 7 Biblical Holy Days -- first 4 are Spring Holy Days (Messiah’s first coming?) and the last 3 are the Fall Holy Days (second coming of Messiah?).

1. Passover (14^th of Abib; it lasts one day (sunset to sunset).

2. Feast of Unleavened Bread, 15^th of Abib for 7 days beginning the day after Passover.  Do not eat any leavened bread (sin) during this Feast week.

3. Wave Offering (Lev. 23:10,11) “on the morrow after the Sabbath…..”.  This day moves around based on our calendar coming after the first Sabbath after Passover.

4. Pentecost / Shavout (Lev. 23:15-17) “Count the weeks (50 days) after the Sabbath from the day after the Wave Offering.”    

5. Feast of Trumpets) (Lev/ 23:23-24) – RoshHashana  -- In the seventh month, first day of the month. 

6. Day of Atonement -- Yom Kippur (Lev. 23:27) 10^th day of the 7^th (Tishri) month a day of atonement. 

7. Tabernacles -- Sukkoth (Lev. 23:41-43) A seven day feast (Holy Days) held in the 7^th month (Tishri 15) of the Biblical year.

• All males were to go to Jerusalem for three Holy Days (Unleavened Bread, Pentacost / Shavout and the Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot).  A second tithe was used for this purpose; a sort of Biblical holy day saving plan.
• Tithing:  4 in all:

1. “General tithe” was paid to the Levites (Numbers 18:21) from the “increase.”

2. Levites paid a tithe of the “general tithe” to the priests (Num. 18:25-31).

3. The people paid a tithe to pay for their 3 annual pilgrimage to Jerusalem (Deut. 14:22-26).

4. The people paid a tithe collected every three years to support the poor, the orphans and the widows.  (Deut. 14:28-29).

• Passover Meal (Seder).  The memorial meal is held on the 14^th of Abib (first month of the year) in remembrance of the exodus out of Egypt.  Interesting, most Jews today do not eat the meal prescribed in Scripture (i.e.; unblemished yearling lamb).
• Sadducees:  Followed only the written Torah (not oral), denied in the bodily resurrection, no afterlife, no angels and no living spirits.  They were influential with the Roman authorities and controlled the Sanhedrin. They numbered only around 1,000 at the time of Christ.
• Pharisees:  Held many beliefs in common with Jesus such as the physical resurrection of the dead; the coming day of judgment followed by reward or punishment; they anticipated the Messiah at any moment; believed in angels; recognized a combination of free choice and divine control in human life.  They followed both the written and oral Torah and taught in the synagogues while also supporting the Temple and priests. Thought to have numbers around 6,000 when Christ was on earth.
• Anti-Semitism has been around since Egyptian and Purim (Ester) eras.  Jews were very particular and easy to identify: dietary laws, worships only one God, observed the Sabbath rest day; normally did not marry outside of their Jewish families; and men wore beards and earlocks.  After the Jewish wars (60 to 120 AD) against the Romans, it was not safe to look or act Jewish.  The situation got very bad during the middle ages.  For instance Jews were not able to reside in England from 1290 to 1655; in France from 1182 – 1600s; in Spain 1492 to the 20^th century; in Germany from1750 to 1782 and then again in the 20^th century).  Matthew 27:20-25, Revelation 2:9 and a good deal of the Gospel of John (18 and 19) indicated that the Jews were the cause of the death of Jesus on the cross.  Of course the Romans actually had him executed as agents of God’s plan for redemption.
• A recent discovery in India shows that a disciple named Bartholomew had gone there with a Hebrew copy of the Gospel of Matthew.  This discovery gives support that Matthew was written around 50 A.D., was in Hebrew, and was written of notes independent of the Gospel of Mark.  (A History of Christianity in Asia; Moffett 1998).