God’s guidance

The Escape to Egypt

¹³When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. "Get up," he said, "take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him." ¹⁴So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, ¹⁵where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: "Out of Egypt I called my son."^[a]

¹⁶When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi. ¹⁷Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled:
¹⁸"A voice is heard in Ramah,
weeping and great mourning,
Rachel weeping for her children
and refusing to be comforted,
because they are no more."^[b]

The Return to Nazareth

¹⁹After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt ²⁰and said, "Get up, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who were trying to take the child's life are dead."

²¹So he got up, took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. ²²But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning in Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Having been warned in a dream, he withdrew to the district of Galilee, ²³and he went and lived in a town called Nazareth. So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets: "He will be called a Nazarene."

I. Core Message

Content:

1. Joseph followed angel’s word, brought the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. (v13-15)
2. Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under. (v16-18)
3. Joseph followed the angel’s word, and went back to Israel after Herod died. (v19-21)
4. When Joseph heard that Archelaus was reigning in Judea in place of his father Herod, God sent angel to warn Joseph to withdrew to the district of Galilee, and live in Nazareth. (v22-23)

Theme:

1. God’s guidance
2. A model of obeying

II. Who are God, Jesus Christ, and Holy Spirit?

1. God who sends angels to speak to people (v13, v19)
2. God who reads people’s mind (v13)
3. God who talks to people through prophets (v15, v23)

III. What does the passage teach us (about commands, promises, examples, exhortations, and warnings?)

1. God who Takes Controls of Everything

In the process where Joseph brought his family escaping to Egypt, coming back to Israel from Egypt, and moving to Nazareth, we could see that non of the plans was coming out from human. They were all coming from God’s guidance. Is these events, we could see some characteristics of God:

1. Omniscient: He knows all plans of Herod: Herod’s anger, his mind, and his plan of killing boys under 2.
2. Omnipresent: Angel appears in Joseph’s dream when he is in Bethlehem (v13) Angel appears again in Egypt (v19).
3. A detailed plan: Fulfilling what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called my son.” (v15) What was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled: “A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.” (v17-18) This was fulfilled what was said through the prophets: “He will be called a Nazarene.” (v23)
4. Clear Revelation: “Get up, take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him” (v13) “Get up, take the child and his mother and go to land of Israel, for those who were trying to take the child’s life are dead.” (v20) He is again being told by God to leave for Galilee. (v22)
5. Better: God is always better than humans. Thus, Herod was out of plan since God is always better than humans.

Reflection: God is reliable. How much do I rely on him and trust him? Or do I always rely on myself or others?

2. God’s Servent (Joseph)

Joseph is God’s servent, we can see following characteristics on him:

1. A righteous man: Her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly. (Matthew1:19)
2. Obedience: When he heard what angel had told him, he did not argued with God, for example: the child is still young, they hadn’t brought luggage, unfamiliar with the environment, or inconveniency of traveling.
3. Act right way: Joseph got up and brought the child and his mother to Egypt in the night.
4. Learn to wait: Even though it was inconvenient for Joseph to live in Egypt, he still stay there and wait for God’s time.

Reflection: Do I have the qualities of becoming God’s servant? What qualities Joseph has do I possess?

3. God’s servant (Mary)

Mary is also God’s servant, from her, we see following characteristics:

1. Obedience: When angel told her that she is pregnant through the Holy Spirit to give birth to Christ, she replied right away, “I am the Lord’s servant, May it be to me as you have said.” (Luke 1:38)
2. Obey her husband: Angel talked to her husband at night in the dream. Mary obeys her husband of living at night.

Reflection: Do I have the qualities of becoming God’s servant? What qualities Mary has do I possess?

4. Cruel Herod

When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi. Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled, “A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.” We can tell that Herod is cruel, lack of pity, and is obsess to the power.

Reflection: Do I learn from Herod and use his as a reminder?

5. Jesus Life is Full of Frustrations

When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.” Thus, Joseph acted right away, brought the child and the mother and left for Egypt, stayed there till Herod died. According to the bible, we can see that: Christ’s life is full of frustration. Firstly, he was born in the manger, then, he faced a fatal disaster and forcing him to leave his home. When he was thirty-three he was being crucified on the cross. From our perspective, Jesus’ life is full of frustration. But all he had done were not for himself, it was for us.

Reflection: Jesus Christ had suffered a lot for us. Have I sacrificed for him?