The Flight to Egypt – Refugees!

Stephen March discusses the wickedness of Herod, the visit of an angel in a dream, and the subsequent flight to Egypt.

Jesus the Refugee and the Flight to Egypt

For the last blog in this series, I am going to borrow from the final chapter of C.S. Lewis’ “The Magician’s Nephew” and say that it is “the end of one story and the beginning of all others.”  Up to this point, the announcement has been made that Mary would give birth to the Son of the Most High, he was born in Bethlehem as had been foretold by the prophets, proclaimed to be the Savior who is Christ the Lord by a group of Shepherds, then called the Lord’s salvation and a light of revelation to the Gentiles by Simeon in the Temple, and finally, hailed and worshipped as King of the Jews, by wise men from a foreign land. 

Now though, the child Jesus is about to become something that you probably wouldn’t expect of someone with all these titles, a refugee. Here is what we read in Matthew 2:13-23, which begins right after the Magi have departed the home where Mary and Joseph were staying.

An Angelic Dream

Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.” And he rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, “Out of Egypt I called my son.” Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, became furious, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had ascertained from the wise men. Then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah: “A voice was heard in Ramah, weeping and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be comforted, because they are no more.” But when Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying, “Rise, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the child’s life are dead.” And he rose and took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there, and being warned in a dream he withdrew to the district of Galilee. And he went and lived in a city called Nazareth, so that what was spoken by the prophets might be fulfilled, that he would be called a Nazarene.

Herod, the King

From the previous passage, we learn that Herod was king at the time.  Interestingly, history tells us that he wasn’t even of the line of David, but was a descendant of Esau, or an Edomite.  That’s why he was troubled when he heard of the one who was born King of the Jews.  If that was true, then his political career was over, and given that there was much prophecy about exactly who this king would be, likely more than his career would be over.  His plan to have the wise men return to him and reveal the identity and location of this special child had been thwarted, so he, filled with rage decides that since he knows the child was born in Bethlehem, and roughly the time that Jesus was born, he’s going to protect his interests by eliminating every male child born in Bethlehem during that time span. 

The Flight to Egypt was Provided For

But God knows the hearts of men, and His plan isn’t going to be halted by an evil king, so he tells Joseph to gather his family and flee.  And from the sounds of things, it is very possible that they left that night.  The distance to travel would be about 100 miles, which on such short notice would be an expensive journey.  Thankfully, God had already taken care of that by sending the wise men with their extremely valuable gifts, which I don’t doubt funded the trip, and help them to get established with a home in Egypt, as they would not have had relatives there like they had in Bethlehem.

Messianic Prophecies

Along with God providing everything that Mary and Joseph needed, the chain of events also provided what was required for more prophecy regarding the messiah to be fulfilled.  In fact two messianic prophecies and one additional Old Testament foretelling are completed in this portion of the story.  Matthew mentions each of them, that the savior would be called out of Egypt, Jeremiah spoke of the Rachel weeping for her children, which was fulfilled in Herod’s decision to kill the babies of Bethlehem, and finally, that Jesus would be called a Nazarene.   With the last one, Matthew suggests that they may have returned to Judea, but because Archelaus was ruling there, who history tells us was even worse than Herod when it came to violence, they instead settled in the region of Galilee.  Once again, God is making sure that all those things said in the scripture about His Son are coming to pass. 

The Effect of Sin

But why would God achieve it this way?  Why would he allow the slaughter of innocent children?  Sadly, when God created man and gave us free will, he allowed us to act on our sin nature, and unfortunately that means that all of us will experience the effect of sin in our lives, sometimes in very extreme ways. Herod allowed his sin to control him.  And in doing so he committed a horrible atrocity.  What he didn’t realize was that God is ultimately in control, and had a plan already underway to save mankind from our sin. 

The Story of Jesus’ Birth

This is indeed the end of the story of Jesus’ birth, and it would seem like a very bleak end, except that God made a way, this time, for His son to be spared.  He did that because as I said earlier, this is the end of one story and the beginning of all others.  The gospel writers would pick up the story of Jesus as an adult.  They tell of how he healed the sick, made the blind to see and the lame to walk, how he cast out demons and raised the dead to life.  They tell us how he allowed himself, though he committed no sin, to die on a Roman cross, taking the penalty of sin for all mankind, and then rose again from the grave.  God promised us that anyone who believes in Jesus, who He is and what He has done, will be saved from their sin and will have everlasting life with him in heaven.   The Bible says that faith in Christ gives us new life, starting the moment we put our trust in Jesus. 

Through the story of his birth, God is showing us that Jesus is the promised messiah.  Because of this, the reality of death caused by sin has ended, and life with Christ can begin.

Has your story with Jesus begun yet?  If it has, rejoice as we remember that glorious nativity.  If not, it can start today, by knowing and believing that this baby we celebrate at Christmas, is in fact the one the angels would declare to be the Son of the Most High, the Savior, who is Christ the Lord.

Does the fact that Jesus was a refugee surprise you? Do you think you or any of your friends or neighbors could relate to this story? Comment below or contact us at HopeStreamRadio.