God provided a divine warning in a dream to Joseph. This was the second dream of Joseph that Scripture tells us about. In Joseph’s first dream, an angel explained how Mary was pregnant and instructed Joseph to marry her immediately. Joseph quickly obeyed. Now Jesus has been born, and the wise men from the east have visited and left valuable gifts for the toddler Jesus.
Matthew 2: 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.” [1]
How Can a Baby Be a Threat?
A baby should not pose a threat to a strong political leader. But Herod was paranoid and ruthless, and the wise men had called this baby the king of the Jews. He had already killed three sons and his wife because he thought they were a threat. Herod was not a popular ruler so he wrote in his will that when he died, the leading citizens of Jericho should be killed. This would ensure there would be weeping at his funeral. This brutal ruler would have no reservations about killing a whole village of babies.
Joseph would not know about Herod’s plan, but God knew and sent an angel in a dream to warn Joseph. Joseph was immediately obedient, and the family left Bethlehem under the cover of darkness. As a toddler, Jesus became a homeless refugee with a price on his head. Fortunately, the family could finance this trip with the gifts left by the wise men.
Off to Egypt
The instructions in the dream said to go to Egypt, and Joseph obeyed. While Egypt was a Roman province, it was outside Herod’s jurisdiction. There were also large Jewish colonies there. The family would be able to settle down in an area of Jewish culture.
The instructions of the dream also enabled prophecy to come true. Hosea 11:1 When Israel was a child, I loved him, and I called my son out of Egypt. [2] Jacob’s sons and their families had sought refuge in Egypt. At this point, the family that would become the Jewish people was less than one hundred people. It was Joseph, the son of Jacob who was a dreamer, who enabled the infant nation to move to Egypt.
Later, God would lead this nation from Egypt to the Promised Land in the Exodus. Now, Jesus, the Son of God, would be called out of Egypt to Israel. But unlike the Jews, Jesus would be faithful to obey God’s will. He would pay the price for the sins of humanity. When God gave Joseph a divine warning in a dream, He was multitasking. Not only was He protecting the child Jesus, He was setting up the fulfillment of prophecy. What a God we serve! To learn more, listen here:
https://podpoint.com/light-of-christ-church-podcast/the-gift-of-dreams