The Gospel of Matthew, 2:13-15

 13 Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, “Arise, take the young Child and His mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I bring you word; for Herod will seek the young Child to destroy Him.” 14 When he arose, he took the young Child and His mother by night and departed for Egypt, 15 and was there until the death of Herod, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, “Out of Egypt I called My Son.”

Commentary

Vs. 13 With the departure of the wise men, (and provisions now made for Joseph, Mary, and the Child), the angel of the Lord appears to Joseph in a dream, saying, “Arise, take the young Child and His mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I bring you word; for Herod will seek the young Child to destroy Him.” And so though Joseph and Marry were ignorant of Herod and his plans to destroy the Child, God wasn’t. For God sees all, knows all, and is always one step ahead of His enemies, moving and guiding His people into His Will so that His will is accomplished and fulfilled for them and through them.

Vs. 14-15 14 When he arose, he took the young Child and His mother by night and departed for Egypt, 15 and was there until the death of Herod, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, “Out of Egypt I called My Son.”

 Joseph then believing the Word of God spoken to him by the angel of the Lord departs by night with the Child Jesus and His mother and begins what to them must have seemed like a very perilous journey, but to the Lord of heaven and earth, it was just a matter of fulfilling His destiny according to the Word of God. Now how long the Child Jesus was there in Egypt with Joseph and Marry may be speculated on (but is of little relevance) for what is relevant is that God kept them there in His care until the death of Herod. And so it would be from there that Word of God spoken through the prophet Hosea centuries before which declared, “Out of Egypt I called My Son.” (see Num 24:8; Hosea 11:1) would be fulfilled. And so like the Israelites whom God brought up in and then delivered out of Egypt, so too would the Lord Jesus Christ have a time in Egypt before God would call Him out of there and into His plans and purposes for Him. And so with Christ’s being born in Bethlehem, and then sent into Egypt (until the death of Herod) before being called out of Egypt, and finally going too and growing up in Nazareth, there is a very direct and purpose filled plan that God was doing in fulfilling His Word regarding His Son, the most important of which was yet to be fulfilled, and so God was not reacting to the circumstances of Mary and Joseph and specifically the Child Jesus that they were facing at any given time, for God new and already foretold all the steps that His Son would take (and have to take) in fulfilling His Word.

 Scripture Citations

The New King James Version. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982.

 

 

 

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