The Escape to Egypt (Matthew 2:13-23)

The titles of these posts come from the respective section of the New Living Translation of the Bible.  Honestly, for some odd reason I had a hard time writing this title.  That the [Son of the] Lord God should need to escape from the wrath of a human seems preposterous.  God controlled a star a few verses ago and now He needs to escape from a man!

I bet the Jews would also find this title odd as their idea of the Messiah is a military leader.  Would such a great military leader start his life by fleeing the country?

Joseph's Faith

Joseph receives another visit in a dream, however this one is a command to flee to Egypt.  Not an instruction to get ready to go or a request to leave soon but an urgent command: "Get up!"  So, in a matter of hours, the family collects what they can and embarks on a 250+ mile journey to Egypt.  Note verse 14 says they left for Egypt that night. 

This is the second life altering dream Joseph has received (according to Matthew).  He obeys immediately, putting his life in his faith of God, without asking for signs.

No Favors

Joseph's family packed their household and moved... in the night.  Stop for a moment and think about what this must have been like... now add a toddler!  Amazing that God didn't give them a little more warning, provide some super-natural protection or means of transportation.  

Mourning in Ramah

Rachel is Benjamin's mother and the town of Ramah is part of Benjamin's inheritance.  For this reason those who lived in Ramah were considered Benjaminites; Jerusalem is also a Benjaminite town.  When the Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem the captured Jews were assembled in Ramah before being taken to Babylon. 

This is the original interpretation of Jeremiah 31:15, that Rachel was weeping for her "children", the Benjaminites, who were killed or captured by the Babylonians.  The Jeremiah verse is figurative:  Rachel died just outside of Bethlehem after giving birth to Benjamin, her second son, so it would be literally impossible for her to weep for her "children" in Ramah.

Matthew now adds the young boys murdered by Herod saying Rachel weeps for them because they are also Benjaminites.  Bethlehem is considered a Benjaminite town as it is six miles from Jerusalem and was considered one of its "surrounding villages."  However, Bethlehem is not Ramah and Herod was a Jew, not a Babylonian.  Matthew's application of the Ramah verse seems a stretch.  

It is linguistically interesting that Jeremiah has Rachel weeping for Benjamin's children; Rachel named Benjamin Ben-oni, "son of my sorrow."  Therefore Rachel weeps for the children of "son of my sorrow."

Note: There are two Bethlehems.  The other Bethlehem is mentioned in Joshua 19 which says Bethlehem was Zebulun's inheritance; Leah was Zebulun's mother, not Rachel (Jacob was married to Rachel and Leah).  This is not the Bethlehem where Jesus was born (and David) even though it is closer to Nazareth.   

Again, a Dream

After Herod dies an angel tells Joseph in a dream to return to Israel.  The text does not say what part of Israel; Joseph starts off to Judea.  Joseph learns of Archelaus rule of Judea and is afraid.  His fear was prescient as he was warned in a third dream which lead them to Galilee, the town of Nazareth. 

He will be called a Nazarene.

Neither the word 'Nazarene' nor 'Nazareth' is in the Old Testament.  Where did this prophecy come from?   Nazarene can mean a "sprout" or "shoot" and it can also be a misinterpretation of Nazirite. 

Jesus probably was not a Nazirite because He didn't follow the rules (e.g. not drinking wine).  Give some thought to Jesus as a sprout (M-W.com: a young shoot as from a seed or root; a young person) of God, especially in terms of the Trinity.

Praises

Even as a toddler Jesus' destiny was a burden and He went through it without privilege or convenience.  This is another illustration that God doesn't ask us to do anything that He hasn't done with the same limitations we have... You could even argue He was harder on Himself.  Can you get a fairer God than that?  Praise Him and then thank Him!

Application

God asks for more than faith.  In this instance God needed obedience and immediate action from Joseph.  The  next time you feel the Holy Spirit pushing you to act remember what Joseph and Mary did and that God needs action from us. 

Joseph probably didn't want to go to Egypt.  Our desires are secondary to God's. 

Joseph feared Archelaus; obviously Joseph trusted and had faith in God.  Following God and using your head are not mutually exclusive.

Maps

 
This picture is from Wikipedia, the light/bright green area is Judea (aka Judah).

Egypt on the left, Israel on the right... note the big ol' Sinai Peninsula in between.

Remember

Rami Khader Ayyad a 32-year-old director of Gaza's only Christian bookstore was found dead today.  Ayyad regularly received anonymous death threats from angry people who accused him of missionary work, a rarity among Gaza's Christians.  By IBRAHIM BARZAK, Associated Press