linked with which Gospel. The early fathers differed among themselves. Irenaeus

assigned the eagle to Mark and the lion to John. Augustine assigned the lion to Matthew,

the man to Mark, the ox to Luke and the eagle to John. Ambrose kept to the order of

enumeration in Ezekiel.  If there is any link with the cherubim (and they embody

important doctrine) then the most satisfactory is:

Matthew

--

the Lion, the King

Mark

--

the Ox, the Servant

--

the Man, the last Adam

--

the Eagle, the Word made flesh Who was God.

The Gospel of Matthew comes first in the N.T. in many manuscripts and this is fitting,

for it is closely linked with the O.T. Scriptures. In the four Gospels there are many

quotations and allusions to the O.T. Absolute accuracy is not possible because some of

these are fused and separation is difficult. In Mark there are 63; in Luke 96; in John 43;

but in Matthew 126. There are some 37 direct quotations by Matthew which is more than

occur in the other Gospels. The quotations are introduced by formulas which are more or

less fixed such as "that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the

prophet", or "then was fulfilled that which was spoken" (such as Matt. 1: 22; 2: 15, 17;

3: 3; 4: 14, etc.). "It is written" (Matt. 2: 5; 4: 4, 7, 10; 11: 10, etc.), "it was said"

or "it hath been said" (Matt. 5: 21, 31, 33, 38, 43). This does not give all the variations,

but they illustrate the way O.T. passages are introduced by the Evangelist.

Matthew presents the Lord as the Messiah and Priest-King of Israel and gives witness

to the Messianic Kingdom of the O.T. prophets; hence his close link with the O.T.

Before we go any further it will be as well to consider the break between the Old and

New Testaments. We must realize that when we turn from Malachi to Matthew, some

400 years have passed and that in this period great changes have occurred. At the close

of the O.T., the empire which controlled Palestine was that of Persia.  Persia was

displaced by Alexander the Great, and the Grecian empire arose and dominated the scene

from B.C.330 to B.C.167. At Alexander's death in B.C.323, his empire was divided

between four of his generals. Two of these were Ptolemy and Seleucus and each one

inaugurated a dynasty, Ptolemy in Egypt and Seleucus in Syria. There was continual

contention between them for rule over Palestine, and sometimes one was victorious and

sometimes the other.

The struggle under the Maccabees for Israel's national independence followed

(B.C.167-141), and then a family of Jewish priest-kings, descendants of the Maccabees,

arose and ruled in Palestine. They were known as the Hasmonaeans and they held power

for 78 years, until Pompey conquered the land in B.C.63. This was the beginning of

Rome's domination of the Jewish people. The Herods were of Idumaean descent and

after Caesar Augustus overthrew Mark Antony, the first of the Herods sought and

received from Augustus the governorship of Judaea, Samaria, Galilee, Peraea and