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    Matthew 2:13-23  Lesson 3  

    Read both the "King James Bible" and the "New Living Translation."

    In this lesson:
     
    Escape to Egypt.

    Flight to Egypt.
    ​Study Tip: 
     
    The more we know about the old prophesies, the Mosaic Law,
    and the first covenant the more we understand the New Testament.
    Always click on the links to the Old Testament passages in the margin
    notes, they are important tools that help us understand God's plan for mankind.
    Who was -
     
    Jeremiah -
    The Hebrew prophet Jeremiah, also called Jeremy or Jeremias (Matthew 16:14).  He is the author of The Old Testament books "The Lamentations of Jeremiah" and "The Book of the Prophet Jeremiah."  From the village of Anathoth (Jeremiah 1:1), located three miles northeast of Jerusalem, God "ordained" him a prophet before he was born (Jeremiah 1:5).  Jeremiah lived in the sixth and seventh centuries BC and was known as the "weeping prophet."  His story is one of perseverance, as he was persecuted by his fellow Jews and even his own family (Jeremiah 12:6) for prophesying that unless Israel renounced its idolatry, it would fall to the nation of Babylon.  Four successive Jewish kings ignored his warnings to repent.  Jeremiah was imprisoned (Jeremiah 37:15), and King Jehoiakim tried several times to kill him (Jeremiah 36:26).  Finally, Israel was punished for its sins and fell into Babylonian captivity.  Many citizens, including King Jehoiakim, were taken to Babylon as slaves.  Jeremiah fled to Egypt and correctly predicted that Israel's captivity would last seventy years (Jeremiah 25:11) and that Babylon would be destroyed.  You can learn more in "The Book  of the Prophet Jeremiah."
     
     
    Archelaus  -
    The son of King Herod the Great and Malthace.  Educated in Rome, Archelaus was given half his deceased fathers kingdom by Caesar and ruled Idumea, Judea, and Samaria for almost ten years.  His brother Herod Antipas ruled the other half.  Archelaus was known for his cruelty, this reputation is probably why Joseph avoided Judea when he returned from Egypt with the young Messiah (Matthew 3:22).  Archelaus was eventually deposed by the Romans, stripped of his wealth and exiled to Gaul.  It was his brother Antipas who beheaded John the Baptist (Matthew 14:1-11; Mark 6:21-28) and "mocked" Jesus (Luke 23:11).  

    The Gospel According to St. Matthew

    The King James Bible    ​

    Matthew 2:13-23
    Joseph's second dream

    13And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him. 

    14When he arose, he took the young child and his mother by night, and departed into Egypt: 

    15And was there until the death of Herod: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I called my son. 

    16Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently inquired of the wise men. 

    17Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying, 

    18In Rama was there a voice heard, lamentation, and weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not. 

    19But when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeareth in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, 

    20Saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and go into the land of Israel: for they are dead which sought the young child's life. 

    21And he arose, and took the young child and his mother, and came into the land of Israel. 

    22But when he heard that Archelaus did reign in Judaea in the room of his father Herod, he was afraid to go thither: notwithstanding, being warned of God in a dream, he turned aside into the parts of Galilee: 

    23And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, He shall be called a Nazarene.                             ​
    ​​Margin notes: 
     
    "Out of Egypt have I called my son." (2:15) - Another fulfilled prophecy.  Just as the Israelites came out of Egyptian slavery, Jesus came out of Egypt to free mankind from the slavery of sin.  The prediction that the Messiah would spend time in Egypt appeared in Hosea 11:1 more than seven hundred years before the birth of Christ.
     
    "He was mocked of the wise men." (2:16) - Means, "was tricked by the wise men."
     
    "Exceeding wroth." (2:16) - "Infuriated."
     
    "In all the coasts thereof." (2:16) - "In the nearby area of (Bethlehem)."
      
    "Rachel weeping for her children." (2:18) - A paraphrase from Jeremiah 31:15 referring to the great sorrow after the slaughter of the children by King Herod in Bethlehem and the surrounding area.  Rama is a village north of Bethlehem. 
     
    "Because they are not." (2:18) - "Because they are dead."
     
    "He was afraid to go thither." (2:22) - "He was afraid to go there."
     
    "He turned aside into the parts of Galilee." (2:22) - "He went to Galilee instead."  Galilee was a small area in Palestine covering just forty-five miles from its northern tip at Mount Hermon to its southern near Carmel and Gilboa.  Nazareth and approximately
    two hundred other small villages were located in Galilee.  People from Galilee had a distinct accent and were considered so disreputable they were not allowed to testify in legal proceedings.
     
    "He came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth." (2:23) - More evidence that Jesus was the Christ.  The Old Testament prophesied over six hundred years earlier that the Messiah would live in Nazareth.  Nazareth was a small city (population 18,000) in Galilee (Luke 1:26) located approximately seventy-five miles north of Jerusalem and fourteen miles from the Sea of Galilee along the southern ridges of Lebanon.  The main road between Egypt and Asia passed by Nazareth and brought many travelers and tradesmen.  In Jesus' day, the people of Nazareth were looked down on as second class citizens (John 1:46).  Although Jesus was raised in Nazareth (Mark 1:9), its citizens rejected Him (Matthew 13:54-58; Mark 6:1-4) and once tried to throw Him from a cliff (Luke 4:14-30).   
     
    "He shall be called a Nazarene." (2:23) - This seems to be a quote from the Old Testament, yet no such reference exists.  What does exist are the prophecies that the Messiah would be despised (e.g., Psalms 22:6; Isaiah 53:3).  In Jesus' day "Nazarene" was a synonym for despised.  Another fulfilled prophecy?  Additional note; after the crucifixion Christians were sometimes called "the sect of Nazarenes" (Acts 24:5).  This is still true today in parts of Palestine and Syria.

                                                     New Living Translation

    ​
    Matthew 2:13-23                  
    The Escape to Egypt
     
    13 After the wise men were gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. "Get up! Flee to Egypt with the child and his mother," the angel said. "Stay there until I tell you to return, because Herod is going to search for the child to kill him."
     
    14 That night Joseph left for Egypt with the child and Mary, his mother, 15 and they stayed there until Herod's death. This fulfilled what the Lord had spoken through the prophet: "I called my Son out of Egypt."
     
    16 Herod was furious when he realized that the wise men had outwitted him. He sent soldiers to kill all the boys in and around Bethlehem who were two years old and under, based on the wise men's report of the star's first appearance. 17 Herod's brutal action fulfilled what God had spoken through the prophet Jeremiah:
     
    18 "A cry was heard in Ramah-
          weeping and great mourning.
       Rachel weeps for her children,
          refusing to be comforted,
          for they are dead."
     
    The Return to Nazareth
     
    19 When Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt. 20 "Get up!" the angel said. "Take the child and his mother back to the land of Israel, because those who were trying to kill the child are dead."
     
    21 So Joseph got up and returned to the land of Israel with Jesus and his mother. 22 But when he learned that the new ruler of Judea was Herod's son Archelaus, he was afraid to go there. Then, after being warned in a dream, he left for the region of Galilee. 23 So the family went and lived in a town called Nazareth. This fulfilled what the prophets had said: "He will be called a Nazarene."

    This second Bible text from the "New Living Translation" (Tyndale House, Publishers, Wheaton, Illinois) is a paraphrase and not an accurate word for word translation of the Bible.  However, it is a helpful tool when read with the "King James Version."
    Today's Questions:
     
    1. Why did King Herod order the deaths of all the boys under the age of two in the Bethlehem area? (2:16)
     
    2.  Why would God warn Joseph to flee from Herod and not the other parents?  (2:13) 

    Protect yourself from sin, put the word of God in your heart (Psalm 119:11). ​

    Answers:  (Do you agree?) 
    ​
    1. Because Herod feared that the newborn Messiah would be a threat to his authority.  He deduced from the wise men that the Messiah must be between six months and twenty months old, so he ordered the murder of all boys up to the age of twenty-four months (just to be on the safe side).  He didn't understand that Jesus hadn't come to overthrow him, but to offer him and all mankind eternal life.
     
     2.  Sometimes God intercedes on earth, but usually, He lets mankind's cruelty reach its own tragic end.  Mankind's inhumanity saddens God, but He allows it to teach us.  God did not stop Herod's brutal plan to kill the children of Bethlehem but protected the infant Jesus to fulfill His promise that a Messiah would bring salvation to mankind. ​

    ​Application thought for the day:
     
    What lessons can we learn from this passage about following God's instructions? ​
    Thanks to the writings and commentary of John Wesley and Adam Clarke. Also, "The Layman's Bible Study Notebook" by Irving Jensen published by Harvest House Publishing, Irvine, California; the "Life Change Series" published by NavPress Books, Colorado Springs, Colorado; the "Life Application Study Bible" published by Tyndale House Publishing, Carol Stream, Illinois; "The Quest Study Bible" published by The Zondervan Corporation, Grand Rapids, Michigan; "Robertson's New Testament Word Studies"; "The MacArthur Bible Commentary" by John MacArthur published by Thomas Nelson, Nashville, Tennessee; "Wisdom of the Bible" CD by Topics Entertainment, Inc., Renton, Washington for their inspiring pictures; "My utmost for His Highest" by Oswald Chambers published by Barbour publishing, Inc., Uhrichsville, Ohio; The "Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge" by Reuben Archer Torrey; "Hope For Each Day" by Billy Graham published by J. Countryman, a division of Thomas Nelson, Inc., Nashville, Tennessee; "Easton's Bible Dictionary" by Matthew George Easton; "Unger's Bible Dictionary" by Merrill F. Unger, published by Moody Press, Chicago, Illinois; "Halley's Bible Handbook" by Henry H. Halley, Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids, Michigan; "The Living New Testament" published by Tyndale house; "The New Living Translation" published by Tyndale House; BibleGateway.com for all their wonderful links; and of course the "King James Bible".  All were critical in putting these lessons together.
    ​     © 2022 evolke