In Jeremiah 23 the LORD speaks against the evil shepherds who have led the people of Judah astray. He tells them He will raise up new shepherds and a new king, a righteous king, who He calls a Righteous Branch. This is most likely a prophesy of Jesus’ coming. He goes on to condemn the false prophets at length. He calls them adulterers, because they led the people away from the LORD, who is their true husband, to the false gods of the nations, and Baal especially. The length of the condemnation of the false prophets shows us how great their sin was before the LORD.
In Jeremiah 24, the LORD shows Jeremiah a vision of two baskets of figs, one good, and one bad. The bad figs were so bad no one could eat them. The LORD explained to Jeremiah the basket of good figs represented the people of Judah who were carried off into exile by King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. He would look on them with favor, and would bring them back to the land eventually. The basket of bad figs represented King Zedekiah and those who were left behind in Judah. Once again, the LORD says they will be destroyed by sword, famine, and pestilence.
In Jeremiah 25 Jeremiah tells us he has been prophesying against the people of Judah for 23 years, but that no one has listened. As a result, the people will be carried off to Babylon for 70 years, and after 70 years they will return. At that time, the LORD would destroy Babylon for her evil. The remainder of the chapter tells of the LORD commanding the nations that Jeremiah had spoken against to drink the cup of His wrath, which would mean destruction for them. The list of nations and cities that would be destroyed was long, because each had deserted the LORD or led His people astray.
As we return to Matthew 2, we read the record of Jesus’ birth. Matthew’s record doesn’t include the actual moment of Jesus’ birth as Luke’s does. Matthew tells us of the wise men or kings who came from the east to worship the new king of Israel. They had been made aware of it because a new star had appeared and shown them the way to the land. When they arrived in Jerusalem, they went to the king’s palace, which was an obvious place to look for the new king. But Jesus wasn’t there. The actual King, Herod, was confused and alarmed at the prospect of a new king. He called in the priests to offer an explanation. They told the wise men the Messiah or king would be born in Bethlehem. They went and found Jesus and worshiped Him. Afterwards, they returned home by another way, because the LORD warned them in a dream not to return to Herod. When Herod realized he had been tricked, he sent soldiers to kill all the male children in the area who were two years old and younger. This was based on the time of the natal star. Jesus was no longer in Bethlehem when the soldiers arrived, because Joseph had been warned in a dream to go to Egypt to escape the attack. They remained as refugees in Egypt until Herod died. When they returned, and found that one of Herod’s sons was in power, they returned to Nazareth in Galilee. Matthew points out this fulfilled another prophecy about the Messiah. God’s hand of providence is seen throughout this account, although the slaughter of the innocents shows us while the LORD is in charge, He isn’t always in control, because of His willingness to let human beings act on our own wills and purpose.