Matthew 2:12-23, The Flight to Egypt, by John

Luke begins with talking about shepherds and angels. Mark jumps right into Jesus' choice of disciples. John begins with, "In the beginning was the Word and the Word was God." With all four Gospel accounts we get a complete picture of the birth of Jesus.

In Matthew 2:12-23, we have the only account of Joseph's and Mary's flight into Egypt to avoid the wrath of Herod the Great. Herod had his two sons by Mariamne killed because he thought they wanted to be king. He killed Mariamne later. At the end of his life, he gave an order for the first born of every family in Jerusalem to be killed when he died. He knew the people hated him, and he wanted them to be mourning when he died. That's the kind of person he was.

Knowing that, we know it didn't bother his conscience to kill Jesus and all the other Bethlehem boys approximating His age. His order gives us a clue to the age of Jesus at that time. He was less than two years old. The family went to Egypt and stayed until Herod died in AD 4.

We've seen that Joseph believed God spoke to him in dreams. That was a common belief then, and many believe dreams reveal the future today.

If you want to remember the Hebrew word translated "angel," remember Malachi, the Book before Matthew. Malachi is the Hebrew word for messenger, and the shorter Hebrew word for angel is Malak! The Greek word is "angelos." Both can refer to a messenger, an ambassador or an emissary. The three "men" who visited Abraham were not called angels, but what they said and did makes them fit that description.

The Greek word also can refer to a pastor. It is technically correct to say Brother Emil is the angel of this church. This sets the stage for how God speaks to us, and the very point of that I think is, how can God speak to me? Would I believe a voice from the sky? Would it take an extremely poignant dream while I slept? Would it take a person with a wooly head of hair and beard dressed in a camel's hair robe? Would He have to shout? Or could He speak in a still, small voice as He did to Elijah? Or would He be able to use one of my peers on a Sunday morning in church? I told my church members on more than one occasion that God speaks to me sometimes through my wife!

I believe God communicates with us in the most effective way we can accept. It may take a dream for you, a book for me, a storm for someone else, or in a near dear experience for someone else. I believe God chooses the way and the moment to accomplish His goal in our lives, and He did that with Joseph and Mary.

Poor Herod! He could have heard God speak if he had really wanted to! Instead, he went his own way, and he missed living as God wanted Him to live. He had time to repent, he didn't have to kill any children including his own, but he would not hear what God said. He used trickery, deceit, and it was obvious that he became paranoid along the way.

I believe most of the Old Testament prophets did not know they were prophesying anything for the distant future. By the same token, I suspect God may use some now to forecast future events that will only be proven true when they happen. Jeremiah 31:15 gives the prophecy Matthew used in today's lesson, and it was about Israel being taken captive. It is used correctly here.

Listen for God's Word, and I believe God will give it to you, but don't be surprised by the medium He uses to address you. He is infinitely intelligent, and He doesn't have to do or say anything the same way twice.