When Jesus was born, He was visited by wise men. Before they came to Him, however, they were instructed by Herod to reveal the location of the Messiah once they found Him (Matthew 2:7-8). However, they were warned of God to not return to Herod (Matthew 2:12). This caused Herod to go into a rage, and so he ordered the death of every male child two-years-old and younger that was living in Bethlehem (Matthew 2:16). Miraculously, God had warned that danger was coming so that Joseph took the family down to Egypt (Matthew 2:13-15).
Matthew then said that Herod, in ordering the execution of the children, fulfilled a prophecy by Jeremiah. “Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet, saying, In Rama was there a voice heard, lamentation, and weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not” (Matthew 2:17-18; Jeremiah 31:15). This quotation and application of Jeremiah’s prophecy has caused scholars, both liberal and conservative, a world of trouble.
“St. Matthew, who is ever fond of accommodation, applies these words, Mat 2:17, Mat 2:18, to the massacre of the children at Bethlehem. That is, they were suitable to that occasion, and therefore he so applied them; but they are not a prediction of that event” (Adam Clarke). “Matthew does not mean that Jeremiah predicted the slaughter at Bethlehem; but that his words, though spoken as to another occasion, were so chosen of the Spirit that they might be fitly applied to this latter occasion” (J.W. McGarvey). Dayton Keesee, in his Truth for Today commentary, concedes that the verse in Jeremiah is either typological or perhaps a prophecy that had two fulfillments (page 90).
So, are the bulk of scholars correct? Did Matthew (being inspired by the Holy Spirit) simply reach back into the Old Testament and pluck a verse out of context? Or, was the prophecy in Jeremiah originally intended to be a Messianic prophecy?
From Jeremiah 30 to Jeremiah 33, Jeremiah involved himself in a prophecy concerning the restoration of the two houses of Jacob (Israel and Judah) into one body with one head (see Hosea 1:11). While Judah returned from captivity after the 70-year period expired, Israel (the ten northern tribes) were lost. Hosea said that they would be swallowed up by the Gentiles (Hosea 8:8). Therefore, this prophecy looks past the sixth century B.C. and into the first century when the Gospel would be preached unto all nations in order that they might be free from the bondage of sin (John 8:31-38). This is why Jesus said that He was sent to the “lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Matthew 15:24). Unfortunately, we do not have space to develop the nature and purpose of Jeremiah 30 to 33, but a quick read-through while paying attention to who is being addressed will be profitable to you.
So, what does Jeremiah 31:15 mean? How is it a Messianic prophecy, and not one necessarily dealing with the events going on in Judah in Jeremiah’s time? In order for Judah and Israel to be reunited, David (Jesus) would have to be born. Shortly before Jesus’ birth, it was made known to the people that their Messiah was on the way (Luke 1:13-17, 30-33, 42-45, 65, 67-80, etc.). The expectancy of the people can be seen in Luke 24:21 and Luke 2:38. “But we trusted that it had been he which should have redeemed Israel: and beside all this, to day is the third day since these things were done” (Luke 24:21). “And she coming in that instant gave thanks likewise unto the Lord, and spake of him to all them that looked for redemption in Jerusalem” (Luke 2:38).
So what happened when Herod ordered the death of Jesus Christ – the Redeemer of Israel? What happened when all hope seemed to be lost? What happens when you compound that onto the tragic loss of the children at the hands of an evil king? Rachel weeps over the tragedy.
However, God saved Jesus from that death. Therefore, Jeremiah says, “Thus saith the LORD; Refrain thy voice from weeping, and thine eyes from tears: for thy work shall be rewarded, saith the LORD; and they shall come again from the land of the enemy. And there is hope in thine end, saith the LORD, that thy children shall come again to their own border” (Jeremiah 31:16-17).
God promised that all hope had not been lost and that Jesus would redeem Israel still (Ezekiel 37). We now live in that kingdom as part of the Israel of God (Galatians 6:16).
