(The life of our Savior) Flight down to Egypt. Chapter 2.3

 Matthew 2:13-18

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So our last study we had the wise men told in a dream from God not to go back to Herod the Great as he had asked because he wanted to truly know where the baby Messiah was to do Him harm, even though he told the wise men he wanted to worship Him.

 

The very next verse (2:13) says when they had gone (the wise men); behold an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Get up!” Take the child and His mother and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is going to search for the Child to destroy Him.”

It’s interesting to me that as little as we know about Joseph and all the things he did in his whole role, we know he was faithful because the angel of the Lord went to him and Joseph in return listened. This was not the first time he listens to the angel of the Lord.

How many times do we hear that voice from the Lord, and how do we respond? What is our conscience telling us?

Joseph already had seen what God was doing and there was no hesitation.

Verse 14 of Matthew chapter 2 says that Joseph took the Child and His mother and left while it was still night. Joseph got the dream and left that same night. Must have been some message to get out!

We don’t hear about much details of the baby Messiah and His parents in Egypt other than they stayed there with the instructions from God until they were told, which was after Herod had passed away.

This was to fulfill what the prophet Hosea said in Hosea 11:1, which Matthew also records in verse 15, “Out of Egypt I called my Son.”

This was written by the prophet Hosea in regards to Israel being called out of the Land of Egypt in the time of Moses but Matthew writes it down here thinking about the old testament scripture in regards to the baby Messiah coming out of Egypt as well.

I want to back up just a little, recall how poor Joseph and Mary were. How could they travel from Bethlehem to Egypt? That is a distance of 429 miles. Just something to make note of, they didn’t have a car. On that note remember last study how I said we will see how much God was involved in this situation, this was a poor couple that need to get out of town, travel  400 plus miles with a child that had no money.

Recall the wise men giving those gifts/treasures to them, well there is no doubt that Joseph and Mary used these things to sell along the way to make it to Egypt, along with God making other things happen for His divine plan.

It is so important for us to see how much God is involved in situations like this, it might be easy for us to see Him in things that have to do with the life of Jesus but friends He is working and doing the same things in our lives as well. You can put that in the bank!!

 

Matthew 2:16 Herod was furious when he realized that the wise men had outwitted him. He sent soldiers to kill all the boys in and around Bethlehem who were two years old and under, based on the wise men’s report of the star’s first appearance. 17 Herod’s brutal action fulfilled what God had spoken through the prophet Jeremiah:

First thing to make note of it wasn’t the wise men really, it was Almighty God that warned them not to go back to him. We see here that Herod’s wickedness which we looked at in our last study was in full force now. Hundreds if not thousands of baby boys were killed. What a sad scene, all these innocence baby boys killed by an evil man trying to kill the baby Messiah, all because he wanted all the power and control. The hearts of men are evil, only God can truly change a man’s heart.

Another thing to make note of the name of Jesus and the Christian faith has been tried to be destroyed by empires, nations and kings/rulers many times, but as God’s Word says, it will stand forever.

 

Matthew 2:18 “A cry was heard in Ramah—

weeping and great mourning.

Rachel weeps for her children,

refusing to be comforted,

for they are dead.”

 

This was a passage Matthew writes from the prophet Jeremiah 31:15 (recall, Matthew is wanted the Jewish reader to believe, so he is getting deep rooted stuff down for them to know about), Ramah was located about 5 miles north of Jerusalem, it was one of the towns that the Jerusalem people passed through in their way to Babylonian exile. Rachel was Jacob’s favorite wife and grandmother of Ephraim and Manasseh, the two and most powerful tribes in the northern kingdom. If this is strange talk to you at this time just know that Rachel was a great mother of many great people and bloodline.