GET UP, TAKE THE CHILD AND ESCAPE TOEGYPT
Matthew 2:13-23
Key Verse: 13
“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 toEgypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.’”
Last week we learned that the Magi came from the east and worshiped the King of the Jews, Jesus Christ. The Magi’s ardent desire to worship the Christ was truly beautiful. And we learned how to worship our Lord Jesus Christ. Compared with this beautiful story, today’s passage is a dark story. Right after the Savior was born, the devil tried hard to kill him and thwart God’s salvation work, pouring out his rage through Herod’s evil action. But no matter how terrible the devils’ works are, God is in control of everything. He is at work even in the darkest time, and he uses faithful and obedient people for his work. Through this study, let us learn who God is. Let us also learn about Joseph’s faithfulness and obedience to God’s command.
I. The escape toEgypt(13-18)
Verse 13 begins with the words, “When they had gone…” Here “they” means the Magi. After worshiping the child Jesus, the Magi had not gone back to Herod, but returned directly to their country by another route. After the Magi’s departure, Joseph and Mary must have gone to bed for joyful and peaceful rest. But when they fell into sleep, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. Look at verse 13. The angel said, “Get up, take the child and his mother and escape toEgypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.” God knew Herod’s murderous plan and worked out before Herod took evil action.
Physically Jesus was a helpless and vulnerable child who needed others’ care and protection. His earthly parents, Joseph and Mary were poor and powerless. Before murderous Herod, the child Jesus looked totally vulnerable and helpless like a tender shoot. At any moment, Herod’s secret police would come and destroy the child Jesus. But God is in control. He protects his work. When the communists took over the countryChina, outsiders thought that the Christianity inChinawould be completely terminated under the Communist regime. But God not only protected the Christians inChinabut also increased their number exponentially, disciplined them and shaped them as strong people of faith through the government persecution and hostility. Still Christians inChinado not have the freedom of religion, but now there are approximately 130 million Christians inChina. As long as God protects his people, nothing in the world can destroy God’s work and his church.
Now how did God protect the child Jesus? Did he send a host of angels and protect him? No. God used Joseph who was faithful to God and ready to sacrifice to serve God’s work. God sent his angel to Joseph in a dream and commanded him to escape toEgyptand stay there until God’s time to be announced.” It was a difficult task. In the middle of the night, he had to get up and take the child and a nursing mother toEgypt, a foreign country. the angel didn’t tell him how to do. Joseph had to figure out how to transport and lodge. He had to solve the financial need during their travel toEgyptand their stay there.
This incident is called the escape toEgypt. The word “escape” in Greek is “pheugo,” meaning “run away” or “flee away.” The devil was about to attack and destroy Jesus, through Herod’s murderous plot. This plot was imminent and Joseph had to run away immediately as fast as he could. How did Joseph respond to the angel’s message? Look at verses 14-15.“So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left forEgypt, where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: ‘Out ofEgyptI called my son.’”In the middle of the night, Joseph got up and obeyed God’s word at once. Not knowing where inEgyptto go and how to live there, Joseph left forEgypt, trusting God. Through his obedience, the child Jesus was protected. Instead of the Child Jesus, Herod died. Herod was a puppet of the devil. He tried to extinguish the work of God with his craftiness and murderous spirit. But ironically, God fulfilled his prophecy on Hosea 11:1 through Herod’s evil attempt. God sent Jesus toEgyptto call him out ofEgypt. Joseph didn’t know that his obedience would fulfill God’s prophecy. He simply obeyed God’s words. But God fulfilled his prophecy through Joseph’s obedience. In obedience to God’s words, Joseph escaped from the devil’s trap and served the work of God. God’s people are those who escape from the devil’s trap. How can we escape from the devil’s trap? How could Joseph escape from it? He heard the words of God and obeyed immediately. To escape the devil’s trap, we must hear God’s warning through his word. The words of God tell us very clearly what we must escape from? 1 Peter 5:8 says,“Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.”Many people think that a sinful temptation is fun. But the Bible sees it like a hungry lion looking for someone to devour. Nobody will linger around and dillydally, after seeing a hungry lion, but run away immediately from it. Joseph heard God’s words in the middle of the night and immediately took the child and his mother and left the place. But in the book of Genesis,Lot’s sons-in-law heard God’s warning as if it was a joke. And a short time later they perished in burning sulfur (Gen 19:14).
We are living in a world where there are many traps and temptations of the devil. These days, many people tolerate sins as if they are okay in our times.St. Paulwarns us in 2 Timothy 2:22,“Flee the evil desires of youth…”and in 1 Corinthians 6:18,“Flee from sexual immorality…”A very influential man of God in Montreal used to take off his glasses as he walked down the busy streets of Montreal in order to flee from seeing foxy women and falling into lustful desire. He learned from the struggle ofSt. Augustinewho fled from his old-girl friend on the street after conversion. He knew his weakness and struggled hard to flee from sin, and to meditate on Jesus while walking the street. Our sin holds us from living by faith. Some of us know an interesting monkey trap to capture monkeys in the jungles ofAfrica. A monkey trap is a jar or box with a small hole in the top. The hunter puts a treat—a banana or sweet smelling nuts. The hole is just large enough for the monkey to enter his hand however it is too small for him to remove his hand as long as he is holding the banana. The hunter then captures the monkey easily because the monkey does not let go of the banana. We can laugh at the silly monkey. But we can often find ourselves just like the silly monkey, caught in our sin traps. We don’t want to let go of our sin. How do we know that we are caught in a monkey trap? We can ask a few questions to ourselves. “Do I feel trapped? Do I keep doing the same thing over and over again? Do I feel frustrated with my situation or my habit?” If our answer is “Yes!” then we must let go of whatever is holding us back. We must escape from the devil’s trap and sin and be freed from it.
God’s people are those who escape from the “City ofDestruction” (this world) to the “CelestialCity” (heaven), as John Bunyan wrote it in his book, the Pilgrim’s Progress. However, unlike the Christian in the Pilgrim’s Progress who traveled all by himself, we must take others with us. While escaping to theCelestialCity, we must help and take God’s children with us, as Joseph took the child Jesus and his mother. These days we are struggling joyfully to share the word of God with campus students. Let’s hear God’s vivid words to escape from the devil’s trap and bring his children with us.
Look at verse 16.“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.”Herod was a smart politician. But he could not deceive God. Rather he was outwitted by the Magi. More precisely speaking, he was outwitted by God. Then Herod could have stopped his evil plot here. He should have turned his heart, fleeing from the trap of sin. But he became furious, after knowing that he was outwitted. In fury, he ordered to kill all the boys inBethlehemand its vicinity who were two years old and under. Herod was a liar and murderer, the exact incarnation of the devil (Jn 8:44). He was brutal. He killed so many innocent children. Their parents and family members wailed uncontrollably without remedy.
In this cruel act of Herod, however, Matthew sawthe beam of God’s light. He saw thatGod’s prophecywasfulfilled. Look at verses 17-18.“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.’”Most probably, Bethlehem residents, particularly wailing parents might have said, “Where is God?” They must have fallen into doubt about God, just as New Yorkers did after seeing the twin towers collapse did. To God’s view, it was the devil’s ferocious attempt to destroy God’s work and to plant doubt about God in people’s hearts. But the prophecy reveals that God was there in the midst of the tragedy with his heart broken. And God was working out for his purpose to save the world. God had been there the whole time with the Israelites when they had been suffering inEgyptunder Pharaoh’s oppression. God was working on them there to grow to be a nation. God had been with his people always as shown in Jesus’ genealogy. Therefore we must not fall into doubt about God, asking “Where are you God when life hurts?” Rather, we must see God’s love and his sovereign work behind the scene. We must open our spiritual eyes to see God’s unfailing love and his sovereign work even behind the tragedy. Our God is good. He works for the good of those who love him in all things as Paul confessed in Romans 8:28. Therefore, we must have faith that neither death nor life, neither angels nore demons, neither the present nor the future, nor anything in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Our Lord Jesus Christ (Ro 8:38-39). Our God is in control of everything. And our God is working for us even in the difficulty and hardship of life.
II. The return toNazareth(19-23)
Look at verses 19-20.“After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and 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.’”Herod died after committing many cruel evildoings. But his evildoings didn’t stop the work of God. God was working out faithfully for his world saving purpose. Now it was time for Joseph to take the child Jesus and his mother and return toIsrael. So again God sent an angel to Joseph in a dream and commanded him to take the child and his mother and go back to thelandofIsrael. Joseph again got up, took the child and his mother and went to thelandofIsrael(21). But the death of Herod was not the end of evil inIsrael. Look at verses 22-23.“But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning inJudeain place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Having been warned in a dream, he withdrew to the district of Galilee, and he went and lived in a town calledNazareth. So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets: ‘He will be called a Nazarene.’”Here Matthew’s narrative tells us about the third prophecy to be done. Actually, we cannot find this prophecy in the Old Testament. Probably this prophecy was passed down orally that the Jews were very familiar with. Anyway, in today’s passage Matthew shows different places that the child Jesus was taken through and proves that Jesus is the promised Messiah. According to the prophecies, the Messiah was to be born inBethlehemand soon to be driven out toEgypt. Later he was taken back toIsraeland finally resided inNazareth. In this way Jesus fulfilled the prophecies about the places that the Messiah would pass through—Bethlehem,EgyptandNazareth.
Nazarethwas a secluded town.Nazarethwas not an important part of the national and religious life ofIsrael. It had a rather bad reputation. For example, when Philip talked to Nathanael about Jesus of Nazareth, Nathanael uttered, “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” (Jn 1:46). Jesus did not grow up in the capital city. He neither attended the best high school nor enjoyed a privileged life. He lived in a remote village and learned the tradeskill and supported his family. Jesus knew what it was like to get his hands dirty and to work hard for a living. Jesus experienced life just like you and I did. He lived an ordinary life with ordinary people. He did so in order to be with us and to understand us. Jesus is the humble Saviorand a good friend to us. He became a Nazarene in order to be with us. Learning of Jesus’ humbleness, one professor shepherd’s family lived a common life in a very small and shabby house with his Bible student’s family. People couldn’t understand the professor shepherd and his humble lifestyle. But he and his wife humbly and joyfully served many students with Jesus’ love. Now many American students recognize him as a good shepherd. When we accept humble Jesus, we can grow in his humbleness. Then all human barriers disappear and the love of God grows among people.
Now let’s reiterate what we learned from this study. First of all, we learned about God’s sovereign rule of his redemptive history. Even through man’s evil action, God works out for his purpose to save the world. Although Herod’s evil plan to kill the child Jesus was frustrated, God’s sovereign plan of saving the world was fulfilled. However, the devil’s strike is fierce and intimidating to hinder God’s work. It gives tremendous pain to God’s people. Where there is the work of God, there is also the work of Satan. Therefore God’s people must be aware of the devil’s work and willing to pay the price.
We also learned Joseph’s immediate obedience to God’s word. Joseph was God’s co-worker who protected the child Jesus and his mother. In order to do so, he suffered tremendously. He was an environment maker through whom the Savior was protected and hoarded. His obedience to God’s command was amazing and praiseworthy. Three times, God spoke to Joseph in a dream. Each time, Joseph responded to God’s word with faith and absolute obedience. God used him preciously for his world salvation work as well as for fulfilling his prophecies. May we escape from our sins and the devil’s temptations and join in God’s soul saving work willing to sacrifice our time, strength, money and youth. May we be useful people of God whom God can use for his life-giving work in our days.