How does Jesus fulfill the prophecy that begins “a voice was heard in Ramah” (Matthew 2:18)?

Answer

The Gospel of Matthew was written to demonstrate that Jesus is the promised Messiah of Israel. Matthew cited the Old Testament prophets more frequently than any other gospel writer. His intention was to show that the words of the prophets were fulfilled in Jesus Christ. In Matthew’s account of Jesus Christ’s birth, we encounter this excerpt from Jeremiah: “A voice was heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be comforted, because they are no more” «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 2:18, ESV).

Matthew 2:16–18 recounts King Herod’s massacre of infant boys in Bethlehem and surrounding towns. Ramah was a Judean town about five miles north of Jerusalem. Jeremiah’s specific prophecy, given about six centuries before the birth of Jesus, concerns the captivity of Judah and the killing of innocent Jewish children during the Babylonian conquest «Thus saith the LORD; A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, and bitter weeping; Rahel weeping for her children refused to be comforted for her children, because they were not. », (Jeremiah 31:15). However, Matthew, recognizing the remarkable similarity, applied it to the massacre of babies by Herod the Great as another fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy.

In Matthew 2, wise men from the East arrive in Jerusalem with news of a newborn “king of the Jews” in Bethlehem «saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him. », (Matthew 2:2,5) «And they said untohim, In Bethlehem of Judæa: for thus it is written by the prophet, », (Matthew 2:2,5). Fearing a threat to his kingship, the ruthless and powerful King Herod orders all male children two years old or under to be put to death in the region.

In Scripture, Bethlehem is first mentioned in connection with the death of Rachel, who was Jacob’s favored wife (Genesis 35:16-20). Rachel died giving birth to their son, whom she called Ben-Oni, meaning “son of my sorrow.” Jacob changed the boy’s name to Benjamin, “son of my right hand.” Both names prophetically point to Jesus Christ, who was “a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief” «He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. », (Isaiah 53:3, NLT), and who is now exalted to God’s “own right hand as Prince and Savior” (Acts 5:31;NLT;Hebrews 1:3). Jacob marked Rachel’s grave by setting a pillar near Bethlehem.

“Rachel weeping for her children” represents the countless Jewish mothers grieving the loss of their children. Israel’s time of captivity in Babylon was undoubtedly one of the most sorrowful times in the nation’s history. Thus, Matthew links this Old Testament passage to the time of Jesus’ birth as further evidence that Jesus is the long-awaited Messiah in whom Israel can place its hope. In Jeremiah’s prophecy, the Lord promised the nation of Israel, “There is hope for your future” «And there is hope in thine end, saith the LORD, that thy children shall come again to their own border. », (Jeremiah 31:17)

That promise was also fulfilled in Jesus Christ. Jacob and Jeremiah associated Bethlehem with death and mourning, but Messiah’s birth transformed it into a symbol of hope and life.

Matthew strategically included statements such as “a voice was heard in Ramah, weeping and loud lamentation” to show that the details of Jesus Christ’s birth, life, ministry, death, and resurrection were all in total harmony with the Old Testament. God made His Son’s identity clear. Israel’s Savior was destined to identify with His people’s historical suffering and exile as well as their exodus from slavery «and was there until the death of Herod: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I called my son. », (Matthew 2:15). Jesus is explicitly and inseparably tied with the history of His people— not only with the Jews but all believers whose spiritual history and life before salvation involve mourning, exile, and slavery to sin.

“A voice was heard in Ramah” is just one of several hundred biblical prophecies fulfilled in Jesus Christ. Matthew’s skillful allusion to some of those prophecies supplied sufficient evidence that Jesus is indeed Israel’s promised Messiah.