Matthew 2:14-15…Ready

Matthew 2:14-15…Ready

So he got up, took the child (Jesus is now about 2 years old.) and his mother during the night (Suggests in order to avoid detection by Herod or by witnesses.) and left for Egypt, (The route followed by the holy family is not recorded in the Bible. The journey took anywhere between 3 to 10 days spanning 500 miles. They probably settled in Alexandria, due to large Jewish community there.) 15 where he stayed until the death of Herod. (Historians date Herod’s death at about 4 B.C.) And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called my son.” (Hos. 11:1)

Continued From Book

“Calls for an immediate response to all that God commands. Will you obey God without question or delay?‘ ⇒ Joseph didn’t sleep on it or roll over in bed and wait until morning to leave. He didn’t wait for good weather or for another message from God. He immediately obeyed!

“Calls for obeying God even if its inconvenient, untimely, or not something we would have chosen.” ⇒ Would you be willing to leave behind whatever semblance of a life you had before and start out all over again?

“Teaches though God gives guidance and direction in getting us out of our dilemmas, it’s still our responsibility to respond and obey.”

“Calls for a faith that responds without argument or debate. Joseph didn’t argue with God. Joseph didn’t second-guess God. Joseph didn’t offer an alternative plan or a easier way. He got up and obeyed.” ⇒ I am sure that not all of God’s commands made perfect sense to Joseph. No doubt he probably could have offered God a few alternative plans. We can imagine Joseph saying, “Well, Lord, your plans sound okay but why don’t I go and hide out at the home of one of my relatives instead of going to Egypt.” Or Joseph could have complained about God’s plans for him. “Look, Lord, I didn’t ask to be the foster Father of the Christ child. You’re going to have to take care of Herod. I am not going down to Egypt.” But we don’t hear any of those kinds of things from Joseph. He trusted in God’s protecting care. He did that with a faith that listened. Even for us there are going to be times in our lives when God’s commands might not seem to make sense or fit with what we want. Will we still listen? Will we like Joseph receive the commands and promises of God with a believing heart? Or will we ignore what God tells us to do because it doesn’t fit with what we would have chosen?

“Teaches the importance of prompt obedience, to disobey can mean disaster and increased trouble! (Easier to obey God now, than to wish you had done so later!)”

“Encourages believers how the Lord understands what were going through, that He knows what’s it like to be chased, pursued, and harassed.” (cf. Matt. 4:1-11, 8:20, Heb. 4:15)

“Displays how a combination of God’s directives and our obedience is the vital ingredient that ensures our safety in a world of danger and potential disasters.” ⇒ Just as Joseph’s obedience to God’s directive protected him from king Herod. So to for us, when we implement scripture and obey God’s Word will we find safety and protection.

“Teaches how obedience to divine directives fulfills God’s Word. Obedience moves God’s plan and promises forward.” ⇒ Everything that happened to this family happened for a reason. We to can take encouragement that there is a purpose, reason, and even a promise to be had. This wasn’t a last-minute patch job by God. This wasn’t a situation where God didn’t think things out and got caught off-guard. This was the plan all along: that they would have to flee to Egypt.

“Teaches how God can call us of anything. God can call us out of sin. God can call us out of a life of crime, drugs, prison, gangs, and anything else.” ⇒ What is your bondage today? What addiction is keeping you captive? What binds you, holds you back, paralyzes you, keeps you from fully following and serving God?  Whatever it is, Jesus can break it and lead you out!

“Just as Joseph’s obedience allowed Christ’s Saving work to continue in the world. Are we willing to open ourself up in such a way that through us Christ’s work in this world might continue despite all the Herod’s, challenges, and roadblocks we face.”

“Even today, are you willing to follow and obey God without question. Joseph obeys without compliant. He knows nothing about how its going to work out, yet he takes the next step! We too cannot see the fullness of God’s plan any better than Joseph could see it for his own life, but we too must submit and trust ourselves to God’s call on our lives no matter where it might take us.”

 Additional Notes & Applications

Calls for a faith that is willing to follow God no matter the challenges or difficulties. How far are you willing to be inconvenienced. How much are you willing to be inconvenienced for God’s will to be accomplished in you life? How much are you willing to be inconvenienced to see God work through your life? Or do you set conditions so long as its not too hard, too scary, or too burdensome. Despite the inconvenient and difficult journey to protect Jesus, Joseph obeyed God’s instructions by gathering his family, packing his belongings, leaving family and friends to flee to Egypt.  Joseph was willing to do all that was necessary for Jesus’ sake. Will you do the same.

Reminds believers how following divine directives often means relying on what God provides and then doing the hard work of obedience and faithfulness! Whatever can be accomplished by ordinary means should be done. Or do you presume upon God expecting Him to do everything at no cost or involvement from you? Or do you prescribe the time, manner, and place for God’s help, and then lose faith when it doesn’t come?

Teaches how at times its easy to believe that God has forgotten about us, even more so as time goes by. But He has not forgotten, because just as with Joseph and Marry we carry Jesus with us. We carry Jesus with us in spirit as we are feed on His Word. We carry Him with us in action, as we live out this new life that Christ has won for us.  And We carry Him with us in our obedience as we but His Word into practice.

Teaches since the angel does not say “take your son” but rather “take the child and his mother.” So to for us, we may not be the biological father, but we need to take our parental responsibilities very seriously and do everything in our power to provide and protect our children even if were just stepparents

Teaches how God expects us to step out in faith as we follow Him, even if it means picking-up stakes and starting out all over again. (Are you willing to reorganize your life and go where God leads?)

Calls for being welcoming to aliens and refugees who are seeking asylum, safety, escape, strength. Or who are fleeing a bad situation, who are trying to get out of a toxic environment, abusing relationship. May we have the courage to advocate for the rights of immigrants, refugees, the oppressed, and the marginalized.

Displays how God is as good as His word. That God’s promises are powerful and reliable, and will come to pass no matter who’s trying to oppose them. (Know that God can be trusted to fulfill His promises, even though we may not see how He’s going do it, when He’s going to do it, or the means He’s going to use, but He will surly do it!)

Displays how even in the difficulties and challenges of life we’re under God’s providence and sovereign plan. (Know that God chose our path from eternity past, that nothing is simply a matter of chance, fate, or an accident in history, that God has a great purpose even in our suffering and hardships!)

Helps believers to see trials and suffering as temporary. When your going through a hard time, feeling completely hopeless and trapped, thinking how I am ever going to get out of this, that its always going to be this way. That’s when you need see the bigger picture, that this is only a minor bump in the road and God is going to pull us out of this!

Note: A question arises, how is it possible that Matthew can point to this passage and claim that Jesus fulfills it? The solution lies not in the passage of the Scripture, but in the situation in which Israel found itself in the early years of its existence when God called them to be a special nation devoted solely to Himself and His ways. The nation Israel was a type of Messiah in its early years. Jesus is the anti-type of Israel. He was the fulfillment of all that Israel was supposed to be. The birth of the nation had been in Abraham in Canaan – their birth had come from one man. In Jesus is the birth of the new nation. What the emerging nation of God’s people had experienced at its inception foreshadows the One who was to come, who would be the true representation of all that God had intended for Israel to achieve. Similarly, just as from the Israelite nation all its citizens sprang, so too from Christ all the new nation’s citizens spring. Jesus becomes the foundational source of the new nation created through His work on the cross, resurrection from the dead, ascension into heaven, and His return in glory.(cf. 1-Pet. 2:9)

Note: In context, the quoted passage is in reference to Hosea’s recounting how God had brought the Israelites out of their bondage in Egypt. (Hos. 11:1-11) In a wider context, the prophecy is now more fully fulfilled in Jesus’ Saving work on the Cross in delivering us out of the bondage of sin.

Note: Joseph didn’t just wake up from a bad dream and decide to take his family on a vacation. This wasn’t a career move or a travel adventure. Joseph’s decision to flee to Egypt was based on several factors. The angel of the Lord commanded it.-(2:13) It was out of Herod’s jurisdiction. It was a friendly neighbor of Judaea with a large Jewish community, dating as far back as the fall of Jerusalem in 587 B.C. Egypt was frequently seen as a place of refuge in scripture. Joseph and his family sought refuge in Egypt during a severe famine. As did Abraham and Sarah before them.-(Gen. 12:10). King Jeroboam of Israel fled to Egypt until the death of Solomon.-(1-Kings 11:4, 2-Kings 12:2-3) The prophet Jerimiah fled to Egypt.-(Jer. 43:5-7)

Note: Most assume Joseph & Mary had used the Magi’s gifts as a means to finance their trip to Egypt and to live on as they established themselves in a new place. That God has a way of supplying for our financial needs even before there’s an apparent need for it! That what may not seem very useful or practical at the time, God will make use of it down the road in incredible ways we never imaged! (How often have you been in a situation and confronted with a need, only to realize God got there first and provided for you, even before you asked Him or realized your need?)

(For more Applications get the whole Book) 

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