{"id":594,"date":"2022-04-05T03:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-04-05T09:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/?p=594&2022"},"modified":"2022-03-31T18:00:04","modified_gmt":"2022-04-01T00:00:04","slug":"gentiles-in-israel-matthew-4-12-17","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/gentiles-in-israel-matthew-4-12-17\/","title":{"rendered":"Gentiles in Israel: Matthew 4:12-17"},"content":{"rendered":"
Focus Passage: Matthew 4:12-17 (NIrV)<\/div>
\r\n

12\u00a0<\/sup>John had been put in prison. When Jesus heard about this, he returned to Galilee. 13\u00a0<\/sup>Jesus left Nazareth and went to live in the city of Capernaum. It was by the lake in the area of Zebulun and Naphtali. 14\u00a0<\/sup>In that way, what the prophet Isaiah had said came true. He had said,<\/p>

15\u00a0<\/sup>\u201cLand of Zebulun! Land of Naphtali!
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Galilee, where Gentiles live!
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Land along the Mediterranean Sea! Territory east of the Jordan River!
16\u00a0<\/sup>The people who are now living in darkness
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0have seen a great light.
They are now living in a very dark land.
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0But a light has shined on them.\u201d <\/p>

17\u00a0<\/sup>From that time on Jesus began to preach. \u201cTurn away from your sins!\u201d he said. \u201cThe kingdom of heaven has come near.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

Read Matthew 4:12-17<\/a> in context and\/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!<\/p><\/div><\/div>\r\n

I am fascinated by number of prophecies that Jesus fulfilled in His lifetime, but not only the prophecies themselves, but also by what a number of these prophecies tell us about Jesus. In this passage, Matthew brings us to pay attention to a prophecy that the other gospel writers chose not to include, but in the words of this prophecy, a phrase jumped off the page at me that tells all of us more about God and His character.<\/p>\r\n

In the middle of Matthew quoting Isaiah\u2019s prophecy, in the middle of verse 15, we read the phrase, \u201cGalilee, where Gentiles live!<\/strong>\u201d Taken by itself, this doesn\u2019t really seem all that significant. Jesus was raised in Nazareth, and started His ministry in the Galilee region.<\/p>\r\n

But let\u2019s look a little closer. This phrase tells us Galilee was \u201cwhere Gentiles live<\/strong>\u201d. Now I don\u2019t know if the Jews had segregated their nation into only being accepting to Gentiles in certain regions, or if they blocked Gentiles from trade or travel in other parts of the country. This is unlikely.<\/p>\r\n

What is more likely, is that Galilee was one of the more secular parts of the country and that it was inhabited by a greater number of Gentiles than Jews. The demographics may have shown that there were a greater number of Gentiles living in that region, or maybe that there was closer to a 50-50 split of Jews and Gentiles. Or perhaps the numbers still favored the Jews, but this was the area of Israel that contained the highest percentage of Gentiles when compared with the other areas in the country.<\/p>\r\n

I don\u2019t know the demographics, but I do know what this prophecy says about the reputation of Galilee: it was where Gentiles lived.<\/p>\r\n

So what makes this so special?<\/em><\/p>\r\n

Jesus, who came as God\u2019s Messiah, chose to center the first parts of His ministry in a place where Gentiles lived. It is as though Jesus is saying that He values Gentiles as much as He values Jews, and that He came for both groups of people. While this didn\u2019t sit well with the popular view of the Messiah at the time, it speaks loudly and clearly to us about where Jesus placed His focus.<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

This thought was inspired by studying the Walking With Jesus<\/strong> \u201cReflective Bible Study\u201d package. To discover insights like this in your own study time, click here<\/a> and give Reflective Bible Study a try today!<\/em><\/p>

Subscribe<\/a> to this blog and never miss an insight.<\/em><\/p><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"I am fascinated by number of prophecies that Jesus fulfilled in His lifetime, but not only the prophecies themselves, but also by what a number of these prophecies tell us about Jesus. In this passage, Matthew brings us to pay attention to a prophecy that the other gospel writers chose not to include, but in […]","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-594","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-text"],"nelio_content":{"autoShareEndMode":"never","automationSources":{"useCustomSentences":false,"customSentences":[]},"efiAlt":"","efiUrl":"","followers":[],"highlights":[],"isAutoShareEnabled":false,"networkImageIds":[],"permalinkQueryArgs":[],"series":[],"suggestedReferences":[]},"yoast_head":"\nGentiles in Israel: Matthew 4:12-17 - Reflective Bible Study Gospel Adventure<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/gentiles-in-israel-matthew-4-12-17\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Gentiles in Israel: Matthew 4:12-17 - Reflective Bible Study Gospel Adventure\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I am fascinated by number of prophecies that Jesus fulfilled in His lifetime, but not only the prophecies themselves, but also by what a number of these prophecies tell us about Jesus. In this passage, Matthew brings us to pay attention to a prophecy that the other gospel writers chose not to include, but in […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/gentiles-in-israel-matthew-4-12-17\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Reflective Bible Study Gospel Adventure\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/reflectivebiblestudy\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-04-05T09:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Cam\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@godstruthhisway\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@godstruthhisway\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/gentiles-in-israel-matthew-4-12-17\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/gentiles-in-israel-matthew-4-12-17\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Cam\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/6aa6c062baad6d28cd49429d13dee5e3\"},\"headline\":\"Gentiles in Israel: Matthew 4:12-17\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-04-05T09:00:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/gentiles-in-israel-matthew-4-12-17\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":558,\"articleSection\":[\"Written Journal Entries\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/gentiles-in-israel-matthew-4-12-17\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/gentiles-in-israel-matthew-4-12-17\\\/\",\"name\":\"Gentiles in Israel: Matthew 4:12-17 - Reflective Bible Study Gospel Adventure\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2022-04-05T09:00:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/6aa6c062baad6d28cd49429d13dee5e3\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/gentiles-in-israel-matthew-4-12-17\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/gentiles-in-israel-matthew-4-12-17\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/gentiles-in-israel-matthew-4-12-17\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Gentiles in Israel: Matthew 4:12-17\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/\",\"name\":\"Reflective Bible Study Gospel Adventure\",\"description\":\"Your Life. God's Truth. His Way.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/6aa6c062baad6d28cd49429d13dee5e3\",\"name\":\"Cam\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/avatars\\\/2\\\/b94b7ad9f3de7c191324b19a0e9c49a1-bpfull.jpg\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/avatars\\\/2\\\/b94b7ad9f3de7c191324b19a0e9c49a1-bpfull.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/avatars\\\/2\\\/b94b7ad9f3de7c191324b19a0e9c49a1-bpfull.jpg\",\"caption\":\"Cam\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Gentiles in Israel: Matthew 4:12-17 - Reflective Bible Study Gospel Adventure","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/gentiles-in-israel-matthew-4-12-17\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Gentiles in Israel: Matthew 4:12-17 - Reflective Bible Study Gospel Adventure","og_description":"I am fascinated by number of prophecies that Jesus fulfilled in His lifetime, but not only the prophecies themselves, but also by what a number of these prophecies tell us about Jesus. In this passage, Matthew brings us to pay attention to a prophecy that the other gospel writers chose not to include, but in […]","og_url":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/gentiles-in-israel-matthew-4-12-17\/","og_site_name":"Reflective Bible Study Gospel Adventure","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/reflectivebiblestudy\/","article_published_time":"2022-04-05T09:00:00+00:00","author":"Cam","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@godstruthhisway","twitter_site":"@godstruthhisway","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/gentiles-in-israel-matthew-4-12-17\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/gentiles-in-israel-matthew-4-12-17\/"},"author":{"name":"Cam","@id":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/#\/schema\/person\/6aa6c062baad6d28cd49429d13dee5e3"},"headline":"Gentiles in Israel: Matthew 4:12-17","datePublished":"2022-04-05T09:00:00+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/gentiles-in-israel-matthew-4-12-17\/"},"wordCount":558,"articleSection":["Written Journal Entries"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/gentiles-in-israel-matthew-4-12-17\/","url":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/gentiles-in-israel-matthew-4-12-17\/","name":"Gentiles in Israel: Matthew 4:12-17 - Reflective Bible Study Gospel Adventure","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/#website"},"datePublished":"2022-04-05T09:00:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/#\/schema\/person\/6aa6c062baad6d28cd49429d13dee5e3"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/gentiles-in-israel-matthew-4-12-17\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/gentiles-in-israel-matthew-4-12-17\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/gentiles-in-israel-matthew-4-12-17\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Gentiles in Israel: Matthew 4:12-17"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/#website","url":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/","name":"Reflective Bible Study Gospel Adventure","description":"Your Life. God's Truth. His Way.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/#\/schema\/person\/6aa6c062baad6d28cd49429d13dee5e3","name":"Cam","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/wp-content\/uploads\/avatars\/2\/b94b7ad9f3de7c191324b19a0e9c49a1-bpfull.jpg","url":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/wp-content\/uploads\/avatars\/2\/b94b7ad9f3de7c191324b19a0e9c49a1-bpfull.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/wp-content\/uploads\/avatars\/2\/b94b7ad9f3de7c191324b19a0e9c49a1-bpfull.jpg","caption":"Cam"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/594","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=594"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/594\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=594"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=594"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=594"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}