Day 14: The Faith of the Wise Men
Scripture to meditate on: Matthew 2:13-23 The Flight to Egypt and Return
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. Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled:
“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.”
After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who were trying to take the child’s life are dead.”
So he got up, took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning in Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Having been warned in a dream, he withdrew to the district of Galilee, and he went and lived in a town called Nazareth. So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets, that he would be called a Nazarene.
Devotional:
The escape and return of Joseph, Mary with the baby Jesus to and from Egypt is a brief scriptural text full of action. God orchestrating one escape after another… It reminds me of life’s seasons when, no matter how many arrows you dodge and think you are on the other side of the storm, the enemy relentlessly shoots more…just to get you distracted, discouraged and destroy your Faith in God…
After the death of Herod the Great, all should have been well, right? Only for Herod Archelaus to closely follow in his father’s footsteps…when will the running and hiding end… I would have asked? After all we have the Messiah with us…Immanuel, God’s promise for the salvation of all…
The scriptural text reminds me of God’s consistent promise in the scriptures that the weapons of the enemy will be formed against us but they will not prevail…only because He is with us always and we continue to abide in Him. Trouble may come in like a flood, unrelentingly…but if God be for us, with us to help us…we’ll ultimately prevail for greater is God who in us than the enemy fighting us in the world.
Is. 54:17 No weapon formed against you shall prosper, and every tongue which rises against you in judgment You shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is from Me,” Says the LORD.…and Is. 59:19 When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard against him and put him to flight for He will come like a rushing…
Is. 43:2…When you pass through deep waters, I will be with you; your troubles will not overwhelm you. When you pass through fire, you will not be burned; the hard trials …
Therefore, as we go into the season of celebrating Christ’s birth and all the blessings that follow, let us be reminded that as God’s children, believers in His Son Jesus Christ, God is always watching over us and our every step and will rescue us from the enemy’s intentions to steal kill and destroy…the steps of a righteous man are ordered of the Lord… Just like the experience of the storm despite Jesus’ being in the boat with the disciples, the storm did not drown them, they had to experience the storm though and only then did they have the testimony that even the winds obey His voice. Having Christ in our hearts/lives is our only assurance of salvation and victory when we experience the storms, difficulties, troubles, challenges of life…we can boldly believe and declare…if God be for us, what can man do to us and after all is said and done, by God’s Grace, all things will work together for good Ro. 8:28, 31-3
Questions to ponder:
- What does this passage say about God?
- What does this passage say about me or my relationships?
- What should I do in light of this passage?
