Matthew 24:5
For many will come in my name,claiming, 'I am the Messiah,' and will deceive many.
Many will misuse the name of Jesus Christ our Lord claiming that they are the 'Messiahs'. Claiming that; they are the ones sent by God to save the world. However, Many will be deceived. They will believe that these 'Messiahs ' will save them. What is the motive behind this? We all know that the motive in doing so, proceeds out of the sinful nature of the Devil in man. It could be greed, covetousness, pride, arrogance, strife, factions, envy or any other sin that comes from the sinful nature of the Devil in them. Their main intention will be to deceive many into believing in them. We have to be watchful at all times, that we are not deceived by these 'Messiahs'. We have only one Messiah and He is Jesus Christ our Lord. Even, Herod did not like Jesus Christ being the Messiah. For he thought then that the peoples' devotion would turn to Christ instead and he was fearful. He couldn't stand a rival. Plain jealousy and rivalry from the sinful nature of the Devil in him. That sin led him to a greater sin and that was, the murder of all the boys below two years old. There was trickery to trap Jesus who was a baby, to kill Him but they couldn't outsmart God, God had warned through a dream to Joseph about Herod's evil plan. They escaped to Egypt.
Matthew 2:1-17
After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, "Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him." When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. When he had called together all the people's chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born. "In Bethlehem in Judea," they replied, "for this is what the prophet has written: " 'But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.' " Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. He sent them to Bethlehem and said, "Go and make a careful search for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him." After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route. When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. "Get up," he said, "take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him." So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: "Out of Egypt I called my son." When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi. Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled:
God had everything planned as was prophesied by the Old Testament prophets. That's how important those prophets were. They prophesied and it came to pass just as they had told. Why was God commanding Joseph to take his family to Egypt? Wasn't that cowardly to run away, you may ask? But, remember, the Lord Jesus Christ was only a baby, while Joseph and Mary weren't in a position to defend Him either. They had to run to a far away land from that evil king until he dies. So, this tells us that everything about the Lord Jesus Christ was foretold by the prophets in the Old Testament, even His escape to Egypt and His safe return. The death of Herod was also in God's calendar. He knew when he would die and when the Lord Jesus Christ would return. There is even a reason to return to a specific place because of the prophecy, Nazarene. They ended up there to avoid the evil son of Herod who succeeded his father. God had planned every detail of the life of the Lord Jesus Christ from birth to his death, resurrection and to His ascension.God knew every detail about His Son. But, from Herod to Pilate, none of them knew this plan of God. They were just obeying the sinful nature of the Devil in them out of jealousy, envy, greed, pride and arrogance to safeguard their own position and status in society.
