When President Anwar Sadat flew from Egypt to Israel on November 19, 1977, he shocked the whole world. His journey was unprecedented in modern times. It was unheard of that an Egyptian leader should leap the barriers of prejudice to personally petition Israel for peace. We moderns have forgotten, however, that Egypt and Israel have not always been enemies. When Joseph and Mary took refuge in Egypt from the hateful Herod, they were following a well-established precedent. Throughout Israel’s history, Israelites had fled to Egypt for protection or for food. Theirs is a long and honored love-hate relationship (Lawson, L. (1986). Matthew: Unlocking the Scriptures for You (p. 22). Cincinnati, OH: Standard.).
One striking feature of Matthew’s presentation of the birth and early childhood of Jesus in the first two chapters of his Gospel is the way he views each step as the fulfillment of Old Testament Scripture. He does this five times in these chapters, citing Isaiah 7:14 in 1:23; Micah 5:2 in 2:6; Hosea 11:1 in 2:15; Jeremiah 31:15 in 2:18; and an uncertain text in 2:23. These citations make an important point: Christianity is not a novelty but rather a (fact) founded by God long ago and now brought to fulfillment in Jesus Christ. (Boice, J. M. (2001). The Gospel of Matthew (pp. 36–37). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books.)
As we seek out to live Godly lives in the coming year, we must determine if our steps are in line with the word of God and how we fit into His divine plan. This requires not only study, but courage and fortitude. We must know the way to go, have courage to act in the face of inward and outward opposition and resilience to continue on the path of righteousness when so many voices, often including our own, say stop.
In Matthew 2:13-12, we see God's "Divine Direction" through: 1) The Escape to Egypt (Matthew 2:13-15), another to 2) The Slaughter at Ramah (Matthew 2:16–18), and the other to 3) The Return to Nazareth (Matthew 2:19–23).
1) The Escape to Egypt (Matthew 2:13-15)
Matthew 2:13-15 [13]Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, "Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him." [14]And he rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt [15]and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, "Out of Egypt I called my son." (ESV)
No sooner had the magi departed than an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, giving him a warning from God.
• As with everything else of Jesus and His ministry, this dream was a special occurrence. We should not expect divine revelation and guidance from dreams. Unlike Mary and Joseph, we have a completed canon of scripture for infallible direction.
This news to Mary and Joseph was not of joy and hope, but of danger and urgency. Rise, take the Child and His mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is about to search for the Child to destroy Him. Just as the magi had been warned by God to disobey Herod (v. 12), Joseph was now warned by God to flee the evil, murderous king. God does not always give us the reason for our orders, but here He did give Joseph the reason. The reason or purpose for our orders are given to encourage and prompt us to obey. They are not given to satisfy mere curiosity (Butler, J. G. (2008). Analytical Bible Expositor: Matthew (p. 29). Clinton, IA: LBC Publications.).
Flee (pheugô) is a word from which we get the translation fugitive, one who escapes from something or someone. The word is here in the present imperative, indicating the beginning of action that is to be continued. Joseph and his family were immediately to begin fleeing, and were not to stop until they were safely within Egypt and beyond the reach of Herod.
• This is the first key in receiving Divine Direction: Once we understand God's directive, we must immediately obey. Often there are time sensitive circumstances that God has sent into place. For us to delay, often mean missed blessing and increased trouble.
The distance from Bethlehem to the border of Egypt was about 75 miles, and another 100 miles or so would have been required to get to a place of safety in that country. Traveling with a baby made the trip both slower and more difficult.
• With following Divine Direction, God never promised that it would not be difficult. Often the difficult tasks that we undertake in life have the greatest reward. We often achieve little because we only undertake the easy route.
It seems reasonable that Joseph used the valuable gifts of the magi (the gold, frankincense, and myrrh) to pay for the trip to Egypt and the stay there, where the Lord instructed Joseph to keep his family until I tell you.
Obviously God could have protected His Son in many other ways and in many other places, even in Bethlehem or Jerusalem, under Herod’s very nose. He could have blinded Herod’s soldiers, destroyed them by an angel, or simply have miraculously hidden the family. But God chose to protect Him by the very ordinary and unmiraculous means of flight to a foreign country. The commands to go to Egypt and then to leave were given supernaturally, but the trip itself and the stay there were, as far as we are told, marked by no special divine intervention or provision. The family was not instantly transported to Egypt, but had to make the long, tiresome journey on their own, just as hundreds of other Jewish families had done during the previous several centuries. To decrease the chance of being noticed, Joseph took the common precaution of leaving by night, as verse 14 indicates, probably telling no one of his plans. Joseph’s action exactly matches the angelic instruction, while his setting off at night underlines the urgency of the situation (traveling by night was exceptional and potentially more dangerous) and demonstrates Joseph’s exemplary obedience, which did not allow him even to delay until daylight (France, R. T. (2007). The Gospel of Matthew (p. 79). Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publication Co.).
• We sinfully presume upon God expecting miraculous delivery or provision. Following Divine Direction often means relying on what God provides and doing the hard work of faithfulness.
It is likely that the stay in Egypt until the death of Herod mentioned in verse 15, lasted no more than a few months. Herod died shortly before Passover in 4 B.C. (Newman, B. M., & Stine, P. C. (1992). A handbook on the Gospel of Matthew (p. 47). New York: United Bible Societies.)
It is now that we are told the primary reason for the family’s going to Egypt: This was to fulfill what the Lord has spoken by/through the prophet “Out of Egypt I called my Son.” Seven centuries earlier God had told Hosea that “out of Egypt I called My son” (Hos. 11:1). Herod’s threat was no surprise to the Lord, who, long before Herod was born, had made plans to foil that wicked king’s plans against the true King. The reference to “My son” in the book of Hosea is to the nation Israel. It was a historical statement about what God had done in delivering His people from bondage under Pharaoh, calling them out from Egypt under the leadership of Moses. The fulfillment of these prophecies emphasizes the great reliability of the Word of God. You can depend on the Word of God unlike any other word. What God says will happen, will indeed happen. Circumstances may seem so adverse that fulfillment will appear impossible, but never discount the power of God’s Word to overcome any circumstance in the fulfillment of its prophecies and promises (Butler, J. G. (2008). Analytical Bible Expositor: Matthew (p. 31). Clinton, IA: LBC Publications.).
Why must the flight be to Egypt? Answer: a. Egypt was not too far away, that is, not nearly as far as Babylonia or Persia; b. many Jews were living here (Jer. 43:7; 44:1; Acts 2:10), so that the possibility that the holy family could dwell for a while in the midst of acquaintances cannot be overlooked; c. Egypt was outside of Herod’s domain; and d. thus the prophecy of Hos. 11:1 could reach its ultimate fulfillment (Hendriksen, W., & Kistemaker, S. J. (1953–2001). Exposition of the Gospel According to Matthew (Vol. 9, p. 177). Grand Rapids: Baker Book House.).
Please turn to Hosea 11 (p.757)
Hermeneutically, this is known as a type, which is a nonverbal prediction, an Old Testament person or event that illustrates some aspect of the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ in the future but does not specifically describe it. Therefore, because of the specific association that Matthew gives here, we know that the Exodus of Israel from Egypt is a type of Jesus’ return from Egypt as a young child.
Hosea 11:1-4 [11:1]When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son. [2]The more they were called, the more they went away; they kept sacrificing to the Baals and burning offerings to idols. [3]Yet it was I who taught Ephraim to walk; I took them up by their arms, but they did not know that I healed them. [4]I led them with cords of kindness, with the bands of love, and I became to them as one who eases the yoke on their jaws, and I bent down to them and fed them. (ESV)
• When Matthew quotes the last part of that verse from Hosea, he applies it to Christ. Though Hosea was not knowingly predicting that the Messiah would also one day be brought out of Egypt, Matthew shows that Jesus’ return from Egypt was pictured by Israel’s calling from that same country many centuries earlier. The Exodus, therefore, was a type of Jesus’ return from Egypt with Joseph and Mary. As God had once brought the people of Israel out of Egypt to be His chosen nation, He now had brought out His greater Son to be the Messiah.
In a still deeper sense Jesus came out of Egypt with Israel under Moses. As Matthew has already shown, Jesus descended from Abraham and from the royal line of David. Had Israel perished in Egypt, or in the wilderness, or in any other way, the Messiah could not Himself have come out of Egypt or even have been born.
Illustration: Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the famed German theologian who died in a Nazi concentration camp around Christmas time, compared life in a prison cell to Advent (the coming of Christ). He wrote in his diary, “One waits, hopes, does this, that, or the other—things that are really of no consequence—the door is shut and can be opened only from the outside.” (Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Letters and Papers from Prison, ed. Eberhard Bethge (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1972), p. 135.)
Israel in Egypt could be released only from the outside; Judah in Babylon could not free itself—it had to be granted freedom from the outside. Likewise, persons held captive by their own stupidity, sinfulness, and guilt complexes, their very humanness, can be freed only by a power outside themselves. A favorite song among Christians begins, “The love of God is greater far.” Often the publishers put an asterisk by the title to call attention to a footnote that explains that the third stanza of the poem was found on the wall of an insane asylum. An inmate, cut off from society, found his comfort in God: " “Could we with ink the ocean fill, And were the skies of parchment made, Were every stalk on earth a quill, And every man a scribe by trade; To write the love of God above Would drain the ocean dry; Nor could the scroll contain the whole, Though stretched from sky to sky.” (Frederick M. Lehman, “The Love of God” (Copyright 1917, renewal 1945, by Nazarene Publishing House; used by permission).)
The man who penned these lines was locked up, but he received his help from the outside. Following the Divine Direction is an outside guide for the inside and outside world.
2) The Slaughter at Ramah (Matthew 2:16–18)
Matthew 2:16-18 [16]Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, became furious, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had ascertained from the wise men. [17]Then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah: [18]"A voice was heard in Ramah, weeping and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be comforted, because they are no more." (ESV)
The third fulfilled prophecy that Matthew mentions in chapter 2 is that of Herod’s brutal slaughter in Bethlehem. After Joseph had secretly taken Jesus and His mother to the safety of Egypt, the malevolent Herod, enraged by the wise men/magi’s failure to report back to him (2:7–8), committed one of the bloodiest acts of his career, and certainly the cruelest. Consider the arrogance of this man. He was observant enough to recognize the truth of Old Testament prophecies about God’s plan, but arrogant enough to think that he could thwart it! No created being, not even Lucifer, can thwart the plan of God. In this situation, God the Father intervened to protect his Son and to preserve our salvation (Weber, S. K. (2000). Matthew (Vol. 1, pp. 21–22). Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers.).
That Herod... saw that we was tricked (ernpaizô) refers to Herod’s perception of the motives of the wise men/magi, not their true intention. It was not their purpose to trick or mock the king but simply to obey God’s command “not to return to Herod” (v. 12). The king, of course, knew nothing of God’s warning and saw only that the wise men did not do as he had instructed. Herod should have been angry with himself, for it was he who had practiced deception. Now that his trick has boomeranged—the failure of the wise men to return being an injury to his pride—the cruel tyrant is angry with those whom he himself had tried to trick (Hendriksen, W., & Kistemaker, S. J. (1953–2001). Exposition of the Gospel According to Matthew (Vol. 9, p. 180). Grand Rapids: Baker Book House.).
• When we follow the Divine Direction our motives and intentions will often be suspect. We will be accused as being divisive, self-centered or out of touch. We must not only be aware of this tendency but realize it often takes courage to obey God, rather than human directives.
Herod’s hatred of the newborn contender to his throne began when he first heard the news of His birth. The purpose of having the magi report back to him was to learn the exact information needed to discover and destroy the Child-not to worship Him, as he had deceitfully told the magi (2:8). The magi’s going home by another way, and so avoiding Herod, added infuriation to hatred, so that he became furious/very enraged (Thumoô). The Greek is in the passive voice, indicating that Herod had lost control of his passion and now was completely controlled by it. His senses, and what little judgment he may have had, were blinded. He did not bother to consider that, because the magi did not return to him, they probably had guessed his wicked intent and that, if so, they would surely have warned the family. The family, in turn, would have long fled Bethlehem and probably the country. In light of Herod’s perverted mind, however, he possibly would have taken the same cruel action-out of the same senseless rage and frustration-even had he known that the primary object of his hatred had escaped. If he was not able to guarantee killing Jesus by killing the other babies, he would kill them in place of Jesus.
• If there is one thing that prevents us from discerning and following the Divine Direction, it is when negative emotions overtake spiritual discernment. Unresolved resentment, anger or bitterness cloud our ability to properly obey God.
In any case Herod’s rage was vented in the desperate and heartless slaughter of all the male children in Bethlehem and in all the region, who were two years old and under. He went up to the age of two because of the time that he had ascertained from the wise men/magi. His earlier query to the wise men about the time of the appearing of the star (v. 7) gave him an estimated time of birth for his potential challenger (Crossway Bibles. (2008). The ESV Study Bible (p. 1823). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.).
Jesus was probably no older than six months at this time, but even if that had been the age Herod determined from the wise men/magi’s information (2:7), it is likely he would have taken no chances. Killing all the male children/babies up to age two was a small precaution in his evil thinking, in case the wise men/magi had miscalculated or deceived him. If Bethlehem and its vicinity had a population of two thousand people, and the average life expectancy was fifty years, about forty male babies would have been involved. While the death of just one innocent is a tragedy, in those days even the death of forty innocents would not be an event that secular historians would regard as significant, and this could explain why this massacre is not mentioned in the few extant secular histories that address this period (Mills, M. S. (1999). The Life of Christ: A Study Guide to the Gospel Record (Mt 2:16–18). Dallas, TX: 3E Ministries. Mills, M. S. (1999). The Life of Christ: A Study Guide to the Gospel Record (Mt 2:16–18). Dallas, TX: 3E Ministries.).
While Herod’s deed was atrocious, our day is more bloody; for abortion makes Herod’s deed look tame in comparison. Abortion has killed millions upon millions, while Herod only killed a couple dozen at the most. Because of the refusal to stop abortion, the rulers of our land have more blood on their hands than Herod (Butler, J. G. (2008). Analytical Bible Expositor: Matthew (p. 34). Clinton, IA: LBC Publications.).
The whole unsavory story of Herod’s activity in all this is an awesome reminder of how deeply opposition to Jesus can be rooted in the hearts of people who are not prepared to allow his gentle rule to control them. If we are determined to get our own way at all costs, we will go to any lengths to eliminate all trace of Jesus and his claims on our lives (Green, M. (2001). The message of Matthew: the kingdom of heaven (p. 72). Leicester, England; Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.).
• Yet, when we follow the Divine Direction why are we often the target of scorn. Obedience to God's commands follows a direction and way of life that is at odds with what the world values. As such we will stand out. As such, the people of the world can see the righteous action and their conscience accuses them. To silence that they condemn the faithful. If we can be silenced, the disobedient world hopes their conscience that condemns them will be also.
The least of Herod’s intentions was to fulfill prophecy, but that is what his slaughter did. Verse 17 notes that which was fulfilled what was spoken by/through the prophet Jeremiah. Herod’s beastly act is recorded only by Matthew, yet it was predicted in a text given to the prophet Jeremiah. The term fulfilled (from plçroô, “to fill up”) marks this out as completing an Old Testament prediction. This prophecy, like that of Jesus’ return from Egypt, was in the form of a type, which, as we have seen is a nonverbal prediction revealed in the New Testament. In the passage (Jer. 31:15) from which Matthew here quotes, Jeremiah was speaking of the great sorrow that would soon be experienced in Israel when most of her people would be carried captive to Babylon. Ramah, a town about five miles north of Jerusalem, was on the border of the northern (Israel) and southern (Judah) kingdoms. It was also the place where Jewish captives were assembled for deportation to Babylon (Jer. 40:1). Rachel, the wife of Jacob-Israel, was the mother of Joseph, whose two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, became progenitors of the two half-tribes that bore their names. Ephraim is often used in the Old Testament as a synonym for the northern kingdom. Rachel was also the mother of Benjamin, whose tribe became part of the southern kingdom.
Please turn to Jeremiah 31 (p.659)
Rachel weeping for her children therefore represented the lamentation of all Jewish mothers who wept over Israel’s great tragedy in the days of Jeremiah, and most specifically typified and prefigured the mothers of Bethlehem weeping bitterly over the massacre of their children by Herod in His attempt to kill the Messiah. Though Matthew does not mention it here, because he is emphasizing the tragedy of the massacre, the passage he quotes from Jeremiah continues with a beautiful word of hope and promise:
Jeremiah 31:15-20 [15] Thus says the LORD: "A voice is heard in Ramah, lamentation and bitter weeping. Rachel is weeping for her children; she refuses to be comforted for her children, because they are no more." [16]Thus says the LORD :"Keep your voice from weeping, and your eyes from tears, for there is a reward for your work, declares the LORD, and they shall come back from the land of the enemy. [17]There is hope for your future, declares the LORD, and your children shall come back to their own country. [18]I have heard Ephraim grieving, 'You have disciplined me, and I was disciplined, like an untrained calf; bring me back that I may be restored, for you are the LORD my God. [19]For after I had turned away, I relented, and after I was instructed, I struck my thigh; I was ashamed, and I was confounded, because I bore the disgrace of my youth.' [20]Is Ephraim my dear son? Is he my darling child? For as often as I speak against him, I do remember him still. Therefore my heart yearns for him; I will surely have mercy on him, declares the LORD. (ESV)
• Matthew has already made the Exile a turning point in his thought (1:11–12), for at that time the Davidic line was dethroned. The tears of the Exile are now being “fulfilled”—i.e., the tears begun in Jeremiah’s day are climaxed and ended by the tears of the mothers of Bethlehem. The heir to David’s throne has come, the Exile is over, the true Son of God has arrived, and he will introduce the new covenant (Matt. 26:28) promised by Jeremiah (D. A. Carson, “Matthew,” in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, vol. 8, Matthew, Mark, Luke (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1984), 95.).
• Within a few generations, the Lord brought His people back from Babylon, and one day He will bring all His chosen people back from captivity to Satan. “All Israel will be saved; just as it is written, ‘The Deliverer will come from Zion, He will remove ungodliness from Jacob. And this is My covenant with them, when I take away their sins’ ” (Rom. 11:26–27; cf. Isa. 27:9; 59:20–21). But before that great and wonderful day, disobedience, rejection, and tragedy would continue in Israel. The massacre of the little ones in Bethlehem signaled the start of terrifying conflict.
• Like Ephraim, if we stray from the Divine Direction, acknowledge our sin, and plead for forgiveness, God will have mercy on us, restore us, and set us back again on the path of righteousness.
Illustration: In urban metropolises and third world cities, wealthy enclaves and impoverished communities, anguish and grief are replacing tidings of comfort and joy. From the Newton school massacre, Isis hostages, Pakistani Taliban school killings in Peshawar we ask: What is the world coming to, where mothers and children are being slaughtered? What kind of times are these? These are the same kind experienced by the mothers of Jesus’s earliest days. The grief of the mothers of Bethlehem and Newtown, of Pennsburg and Peshawar, is the grief Jesus bore on the cross. As we have just come though this Advent season, as in the first, we weep as the Bethlehem mothers wept, we pray as they prayed, we say Come quickly, Lord Jesus, and we wait with hope. (http://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/weeping-with-the-mothers-of-bethlehem)
3) The Return to Nazareth (Matthew 2:19–23)
Matthew 2:19-23 [19]But when Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, [20]saying, "Rise, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the child's life are dead." [21]And he rose and took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. [22]But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there, and being warned in a dream he withdrew to the district of Galilee. [23]And he went and lived in a city called Nazareth, that what was spoken by the prophets might be fulfilled: "He shall be called a Nazarene." (ESV)
The fourth and final prophecy that Matthew mentions in chapter 2 pertains to the journey of Jesus’ family from Egypt to Nazareth.
Quote: When Herod died, the greatest immediate danger to Jesus was over. In his Antiquities Josephus reports that Herod “died of this, ulcerated entrails, putrefied and maggot-filled organs, constant convulsions, foul breath, and neither physicians nor warm baths led to recovery.” A rather fitting end, it seems, for such a man. Not nearly so fitting was the elaborate and costly funeral that his eldest son and successor, Archelaus, prepared in his honor-especially in light of the fact that just five days before he died, Herod, by permission from Rome, had executed another son, Antipater, because of his plots against his father. But, in the death of Herod, this was good news for it meant safety for the Christ-child. Also this news was an encouragement to obey the command. Look for these encouragements in every command God gives you (Butler, J. G. (2008). Analytical Bible Expositor: Matthew (pp. 35–36). Clinton, IA: LBC Publications.).
An angel of the Lord had told Joseph to stay in Egypt “until I tell you” (2:13). Now the angel reappeared to Joseph as promised, telling him in verse 20, Rise, take the Child and His mother, and go into the land of Israel; for those who sought/we trying to take the Child’s life are dead. The fact that the angel spoke of those who sought the Child’s life indicates that Herod was not alone in his plans to destroy his supposed rival The plural “those” may include along with Herod some of his royal advisors (R. G. Bratcher, A Translator’s Guide to the Gospel of Matthew (New York: UBS, 1981), 18.).
• In opposition to the Divine Direction we must remember that not only will we often have multiple sources of opposition to obedience but the unseen forces of darkness conspire against faithfulness and will do everything in their power to prevent it.
Please turn to Psalm 32 (p.463)
Joseph was not instructed to return to any particular city or region but simply to take the Child and His mother back into the land of Israel. It was not hard to come back home. It was hard to go to Egypt, but Joseph obeyed faithfully whether the command was to go to Egypt or to Israel. Too many folks only get excited about doing God’s command when they like the command. But you do the distasteful commands or you will not get any commands that you like to obey. Generally the distasteful commands come before the more desirable commands. The will of God is often learned a step at a time. Seeking to know the will of God (as Joseph did) and obeying what you already know is the will of God (as Joseph did) are both vital to learning more about the will of God. (Butler, J. G. (2008). Analytical Bible Expositor: Matthew (p. 36). Clinton, IA: LBC Publications.).
• In following the Divine Direction we sinfully presume upon God if we expect every element of obedience to be spelled out for us before we act. That is the opposite of faith. We must obey what we know to be true and God will direct us further as we obey.
Psalm 32:6-11 [6]Therefore let everyone who is godly offer prayer to you at a time when you may be found; surely in the rush of great waters, they shall not reach him. [7]You are a hiding place for me; you preserve me from trouble; you surround me with shouts of deliverance. [8]I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you.[9]Be not like a horse or a mule, without understanding, which must be curbed with bit and bridle, or it will not stay near you. [10]Many are the sorrows of the wicked, but steadfast love surrounds the one who trusts in the LORD. [11]Be glad in the LORD, and rejoice, O righteous, and shout for joy, all you upright in heart! (ESV)
• Joyful obedience is the hallmark of the faithful. It starts with prayer (v.6) for wisdom. Action results from trust in the preservation from God (v.7) while remaining so close to Him in that action that He could "counsel (us) with (His) eye upon (us). God did not create us as horses or mules (v.9) that have to be micromanaged but implanted His Holy Spirit within us and His word as a map before us.
When Joseph arrived in southern Israel, however, verse 22 records that he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. The ones who had previously sought to kill the infant Jesus were dead, but Archelaus posed another, more general, threat. In one of his numerous acts of brutality shortly before he died, Herod had executed two popular Jewish rabbis, Judas and Matthias, who had stirred up their disciples and other faithful Jews in Jerusalem to tear down the offensive Roman eagle that the king had arrogantly erected over the Temple gate. The following Passover an insurrection broke out, and Archelaus, reflecting his father’s senseless cruelty, executed three thousand Jews, many of whom were Passover pilgrims who had no part in the revolt.
Any Jew, therefore, who lived in the territory of Archelaus was in danger. Consequently Joseph was again warned by God in a dream, [and] he withdrew/departed to the district/regions of Galilee.
Finally, verse 23 concludes that Joseph went and lived/resided in a city called Nazareth. Not only because Joseph and Mary were originally from there (Luke 2:4–5) by divine providence, but that what was spoken by/through the prophets might be fulfilled. This plural usage (prophets) is helpful in explaining that this statement is not found verbatim in any one prophet in the Old Testament. Rather, it seems to be an indirect quotation summarizing the tenor of more than one prophet. What Matthew intended to communicate was not a word-for-word quote found in a specific location, but a theme supported in multiple locations in the Old Testament (Weber, S. K. (2000). Matthew (Vol. 1, pp. 22–23). Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers.).
Matthew 2:13–23 thus concludes the presentation in chaps. 1–2 of Jesus as the legitimate Messiah of Israel and the fulfillment of its Scriptures, including those which predicted that through Abraham’s offspring all peoples would be blessed. But the second half of Matt 2 turns attention more to the hostility that arises against the Christ child, his flight into exile, and settlement in obscurity. Matthew foreshadows the similar reaction to Jesus which will characterize the final months of his life and which has recurred frequently throughout church history. True believers, moreover, often follow their Lord in suffering and persecution. Matthew reminds us that this is part of God’s sovereign plan, His Divine Direction. But just as the larger context of Jer 31 (presupposed in the quotation in 2:18) focuses exclusively on the vindication and restoration of God’s people, culminating in the establishment of his new covenant with them, so also suffering, rejection, and even death are never God’s final word for either Christ or his disciples. But they often must precede exaltation (Blomberg, C. (1992). Matthew (Vol. 22, p. 70). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.).
(Format Note: Outline & some base commentary from MacArthur, J. F., Jr. (1985). Matthew (pp. 38–49). Chicago: Moody Press.)
