ESCAPING SALVATION'S THREAT

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find Him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship Him.”

Having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.

When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.”

So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called my son.”

When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi.

Matthew 2:7, 12-16  

This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

The wise men had found Jesus, the baby born as the Messiah in Bethlehem. It was a time of great joy for the Magi who had journeyed so far to worship this newborn King of the Jews, bringing their best gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh to honor Him. As they finished their visit, surely they remembered the request of the Roman king, Herod, who asked them to return to Jerusalem to tell him where the Messiah was so he too could go and worship Him.

As they slept that night, preparing for the long journey home through Jerusalem, the scriptures tell us that God warned them in their dreams to not go back to Herod. There is no specific mention of reasoning given to the Magi but they were wise enough to listen to the direction they received and “returned to their country by another route”.

Meanwhile, Herod waited and waited and waited for the Magi, anxiously anticipating the opportunity to rid himself of this potential challenger in Bethlehem. You see, he had no interest in worshiping Jesus; rather, he wanted to murder him. For if he killed this baby before it had a chance to even take its first step, then the King of the Jews, the long awaited Messiah of the Israelite people he ruled over would be dead. There would be no need to worry about a future threat to Roman authority because the threat would be dead.

And so Herod waited.

While he waited, God was still at work. Not only had he thwarted Herod’s plan to kill Jesus by sending the Magi home without stopping in Jerusalem but we read where he sent another angel to Joseph right after the Magi had departed. As Joseph dreamed, the angel gave him specific directions. He was to take Mary and Jesus, escaping with them to Egypt because King Herod was going to search for Jesus with the intent of killing Him. And so Joseph awoke immediately and took Mary and Jesus to Egypt under the cover of night. They would remain there safe from harm until Herod died and in doing so fulfill the words of the prophet Hosea who prophesied God saying:

“When Israel was a child, I loved Him, and out of Egypt I called My Son.” Hosea 11:1  

Unfortunately, Jesus was the only young child to escape Herod’s lunacy in Bethlehem. For the scriptures tell us that after realizing the Magi were not returning to Jerusalem, foiling his initial plan, Herod ordered all boys two years and younger in Bethlehem and its vicinity, an act that was carried out also fulfilling a prophecy, this one from Jeremiah:

“A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.”  Jeremiah 31:15

Jesus had escaped Roman treachery, at least for the moment. Salvation had come but its death, ironically at the hands of the Romans some 33 years later, would come at God’s appointed time to fulfill His specific plan, just as did everything we have covered through our study of the glorious Christmas coming of our Savior Jesus. I pray you have enjoyed this series.

Tomorrow, we begin to look toward the coming year with two New Year’s related devotions. Have a blessed day wherever you may be in the world.  

Amen

In Christ,

Mark
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