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Groupings of Seven.
Seven demons (12: 45); forgiveness seven times (18: 22); seven brethren (22: 25);
seven loaves (15: 34) and seven baskets (15: 37); seven petitions in the Lord's prayers,
etc.
The faithful student will take heed to these numerical groupings which help to impress
their truth on the mind and memory.
Matthew's Gospel, with its constant reference to the O.T., presents the Lord Jesus in
His relationship to Israel as their Messiah and Priest-King, as foretold by the O.T.
prophets and makes known the great Messianic Kingdom which is the burden of them all.
Peter's message to the nation in Acts 2:, after their rejection and crucifixion of Christ,
refers to the sending back of the Messiah upon their repentance and turning back to God
(Acts 3: 19-21), when the restoration of "all things spoken by the mouth of all His holy
prophets" since the beginning of time, "all the prophets from Samuel and those that
follow after" (verse 24) had foretold these times and revealed the glories of this kingdom.
Israel were "the children of these prophets" (25); they were right in the centre of God's
earthly kingdom purposes and are reminded that this was only so because God had in
view "all the families of the earth" and thus they (Israel) had the first place, in order to be
the channel of blessing to all mankind. Thus the knowledge of God would finally "cover
the earth as the waters cover the sea" (Isa. 11: 9) and so His kingdom on earth would
become a glorious reality.
This will explain why Israel had such a prominent place at the Lord's first Coming
and why Matthew's Gospel stresses this most important truth. Thus we have the
commission of the Twelve recorded in chapter 10: and the Lord's limitation of their
ministry to Israel (Matt. 10: 5, 6). And the Lord limits His own earthly ministry to Israel
likewise, "I am not sent but to the lost sheep of the house of Israel" (15: 24). He
promises the Twelve that they should sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of
Israel (19: 28).
This explains why the Lord's genealogy in this Gospel is traced through David to
Abraham emphasizing the throne of David and the land promised unconditionally to
Abraham and his seed (Gen. 15: 18), showing that the Lord Jesus was the rightful Heir to
both. Matthew's other references to Christ as the Son of David are found in 12: 23;
21: 9, 15; 22: 42. He is Israel's King (2: 2; 21: 5; 27: 11, 29, 37, 42). Palestine
is "the land of Israel" (2: 20, 21); Israel are its inhabitants (8: 10; 10: 6; 15: 34); its
cities are "the cities of Israel" (10: 23) and God is "the God of Israel" (15: 31).
It is important to recognize the place of Israel in the divine plan of the earthly phase of
the kingdom of God. In no sense was this plan finally limited to Israel and this is where
the nation made a profound mistake in thinking that this was so, and looking with
contempt on the Gentile world. The Gospel of Matthew ends with the commission "to
make disciples of all the nations" (28: 19, 20), thus fulfilling God's plan to reach "all
families of the earth". It is a mistake to bring the Body of Christ in here, for its calling