“After the wise men were gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. ‘Get up! Flee to Egypt with the child and his mother,’ the angel said. ‘Stay there until I tell you to return, because Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.’ That night Joseph left for Egypt with the child and Mary, his mother, and they stayed there until Herod’s death. This fulfilled what the Lord had spoken through the prophet: ‘I called my Son out of Egypt.’” Matthew 2:13-15 (NLT)
Once again, we see Joseph given instructions on what to do, and once again, we see his quick obedience. It’s easy to see Joseph as a background character because there isn’t much written about him except for the first two chapters of Matthew and Luke. Mary needed only to believe, and she conceived by the Holy Spirit, but Joseph needed to believe and obey. He needed to do what God told him to do and not rely on his own wisdom and understanding.
If we take a hard look at the instructions to Joseph to take Mary and the babe to Egypt, he could have had a lot of questions. Egypt was known for its paganism, and it certainly didn’t have a great track record for God’s people. It wouldn’t be easy to go to Egypt and settle his family there. But Joseph had trusted the Lord this far, and He had always come through, even to the point of bringing them the resources they would need to allow them to travel and settle in this foreign land without financial hardship. Of course, the threat of a jealous king who was intent on coming to kill the child would have been quite enough to spur someone to jump into action. Joseph left that very night. He didn’t take a few days to get things in order.
The next few verses tell us that Herod was furious when he realized the wise men did not return to him but went another way. In his rage, he sent soldiers to kill all the male children in Bethlehem who were two years old and under. He based this on when the wise men said the star had first appeared.
“Herod’s brutal action fulfilled what God had spoken through the prophet Jeremiah: ‘A cry was heard in Ramah—weeping and great mourning. Rachel weeps for her children, refusing to be comforted, for they are dead.’” Matthew 2:17-18 (NLT)
This is the part of the story that has always broken my heart. I can’t imagine living in the small town of Bethlehem, and one day soldiers burst through my door, take my child and kill him. There would be no explanation, and even if there was, how could you ever comprehend the cruelty and evil of it all? And Herod didn’t just take the lives of those two and under in Bethlehem but villages surrounding it as well. Herod had two of his own sons killed, so why would he even blink at the slaughter of these innocents? His jealousy, hatred, and ruthlessness had no bounds.
Today’s truth is this, the world Jesus was born into was and still is in desperate need of a Savior.
Debbie's Perspective 
Leave a comment