The Coming Kingdom: Matthew 2.1-23 (4)
Pray Psalm 32.8, 9.
I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;
I will guide you with My eye.
Do not be like the horse or like the mule,
Which have no understanding,
Which must be harnessed with bit and bridle,
Else they will not come near you.
Sing Psalm 32.8, 9.
(Hendon: Take My Life and Let It Be)
Teach me, LORD, how I should live; sound instruction ever give.
let me never stubborn be; let Your eye watch over me,
let Your eye watch over me.
Read Matthew 2.1-33; meditate on verses 13-15.
What does this journey to Egypt recall? Is that important?
Prepare.
1. Why did the angel tell Joseph to take his family to Egypt?
2. What did this accomplish?
Meditate.
The message to Joseph is plain: Herod will try to destroy the Child born to Mary. He is commanded to take Mary and Jesus to Egypt. He doesn’t know for how long, or where precisely he will end up. But they were fleeing certain death in the land of Judea, just as Jacob and his family fled to Joseph his son in Egypt to escape the famine that was ravaging the land of Canaan.
Joseph obeyed immediately, because he understood that the angel who spoke to him in his dream could be relied upon to convey the will of God. He gathered his family and their things and left immediately for Egypt, in the middle of the night.
Matthew uses this episode to point back to Israel in the Old Testament, the events of whose lives were meant to point forward to the coming of Christ. God has His Son retrace the experience of Israel in Egypt. Thus we learn to read the Old Testament in a forward-looking manner, seeing Christ on every page. The prophet Hosea (Hos. 11.1) echoed the words of the unbelieving Balaam (Num. 24.7-9) in pointing ahead to the coming of the King and Messiah of God’s people.
Joseph and his family remained in Egypt until the death of Herod. At that point, directed again by an angel, they returned, but not to Judea—where Herod’s son was now on the throne (Matt. 2.19-23). It is not always convenient to obey the commands of God. It is, however, always wise; and it is always the right way of life to do so. Joseph will disappear from Matthew’s narrative after chapter 2. But we have seen enough of him in these first two chapters to gain valuable lessons in faith: When God speaks, no matter what He says, believe Him, and obey Him. Even if what He speaks may seem unlikely or impossible, and even if what He requires seems uncertain or inconvenient.
Treasure Old and New: Matthew 13.52; Psalm 119.162
God’s timing is always perfect. And to obey Him at every moment is the wisest thing anyone can do.
“Even if what He speaks may seem unlikely or impossible, and even if what He requires seems uncertain or inconvenient.”
As Luke 1.37 tells us, “With God nothing will be impossible.”
But:
What if Joseph had moved the family too soon?
What if they had left before the Magi arrived?
What if they came back from Egypt too soon?
What if they had left before Simeon and Anna had seen their Savior?
What if, What if, What if? Happily, Joseph only did what he was led to do.
“But as for me, I trust in You, O LORD;
I say, ‘You are my God.’
My times are in Your hand;
deliver me from the hand of my enemies,
and from those who persecute me.
Make Your face shine upon Your servant;
save me for Your mercies’ sake” (Ps. 31.14, 15).
Hand in glove with that truth are the psalmist’s words to us:
Your hands have made me and fashioned me; give me understanding,
that I may learn Your commandments” (Ps. 119.73).
God did not make us and fashion us so that we would look great, or be super healthy, or wealthy, or witnesses extraordinaire, or super-duper church members, or grandiose politicians, ad infinitum ad nauseum.
Nope. He made us and fashioned us so that we would love Him and want to understand exactly what we have been called to do, and be, in His Kingdom, by learning His commandments (Ex. 20.1-17; Matt. 22.37-40). Through which, if we do them, we will be contending with wickedness at every turn (Prov. 28.4). And be found pleasing to our King in Whose Kingdom we live and work and have our being (Acts 17.28).
We too, like Joseph, should expect to follow God’s commands all day, every day.
An angel may not meet us in our dreams to guide us; but we have His Word to guide us into every next step.
“Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path” (Ps. 119.105). We can rest confident that He will
never lead us into any thing or any place that is contrary to His Law.
Let it be said of us, as was said of Daniel by the king who tried to kill him:
“Your God, Whom you serve continually He will deliver you.”
And when questioned by him after spending a day and night with ravenous lions:
“Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, Whom you serve continually
been able to deliver you from the lions?” (Dan. 6.16, 20).
The operative phrase being: “your God, Whom you serve continually.”
Like Joseph, Jesus’ earthly father, who kept his heart, mind, and soul always open to hearing God speak;
and then doing exactly what he was told to do. This must be our mindset. And this must be our goal: to be continuously led by the God we continually serve—Into Egypt. Out of Egypt. Into Nazareth…and out to the end of the earth (Acts 1.8).
Trusting always in Him, leaning fully of His understanding, and never on our own. (Prov. 3.5, 6).
Reflect.
1. Faced with the temptation to sin, how would you express your trust in God?
2. How would you expect God to advise you that you were not trusting Him in some matter?
3. How can believers help one another in practicing obedience to God?
Egypt had been a house of bondage to Israel, and particularly cruel to the infants of Israel; yet it is to be a place of refuge to the holy Child Jesus. God, when he pleases, can make the worst of places serve the best of purposes. Matthew Henry (1662-1714), Commentary on Matthew 2.13-15
Pray Psalm 32.1-7.
Thank the Lord that He buoys us up, even amid a flood of troubles or trials. Commit your way to Him for this day.
Sing Psalm 32.1-7.
(Hendon: Take My Life and Let It Be)
Blessed are they whose sins the LORD has forgiven by His Word!
Pure their spirits are within; them He charges with no sin;
them He charges with no sin!
When in silence I remained, groaning in my sinful pain,
You Your hand upon me lay; all my strength You drained away,
all my strength You drained away.
I confessed my sin to You; You forgave me, ever true!
Let confession’s pleading sound reach You while You may be found,
reach You while You may be found!
When flood waters threaten me, You my hiding place will be.
O’er them I will rise above, buoyed by Your redeeming love,
buoyed by Your redeeming love.
T. M. and Susie Moore
If you have found this meditation helpful, take a moment to give thanks to God. Then share what you learned with a friend. This is how the grace of God spreads (2 Cor. 4.15).
Other columns of interest: This week: The Read Moore podcast pushes on through our readings from Joy to Your World!. Our Crosfigell teaching letter continues its brief series on the early 6th-century Irish saint, Coemgen. The ReVision column considers how to grow the divine economy. Check out our other excellent writers. Click here to see all the other columns and writers available to you.
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Except as indicated, all Scriptures are taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. For sources of all quotations, see the weekly PDF of this study. All psalms for singing are from The Ailbe Psalter.
