Prophecy fulfilled through wisdom

Matthew 2:13-15

1. INTRODUCTION

2. BODY

a. Wisdom trusts the truth (2:13)

i. What we understand from the narrative starts from verse 12. God had provided the magi an opportunity to leave safely. So now, in verse 13, the narrative picks up where we can see what type of warning God had given the magi. Although we can’t say that God told the magi the same thing, we get a sense that God communicated to the magi clear enough that we knew to obey Him.

ii. So now in verse 13, it tells us how God through the angel of the Lord communicates to Joseph as to what he must do. Interesting to note here that this is the second time that the angel of the Lord is speaking to Joseph. The first time Joseph met this angel was in 1:20, where the angel called Joseph, son of David and explained to him why he should keep Mary as his wife. Then explains to him that Mary is pregnant with a child who will save the world.

iii. Interestingly enough though, when the magi came to see Jesus, Joseph was not discussed. But here, in verse 13, it’s interesting that the angel of the Lord communicates to Joseph.

iv. Can I tell you what I love about Joseph? I love the fact that this guy dreams something and does exactly what he dreamt of. There is no doubt in this man’s heart. Even if there was doubt, he followed through and did not complain. I don’t think people give Joseph enough credit but what we see here is a man who is how all husbands ought to be. All men of God should strive to be like Joseph. What is it that we should learn from Joseph? Obedience. If you look at Joseph’s response here in 1:24-25 and 2:14-15, it tells you of a man who trusts in God.

v. I mean let’s think about this context. God is telling Joseph through these angels to get up and leave. Take the child and his mother and flee to Egypt. Don’t look for a place to live, don’t take your life savings. Don’t do anything. Don’t make preparations. Just go when I tell you to go. Then here’s the kicker. Remain there until I tell you.

vi. We would expect Joseph here to ask God, why God? Why do I have to do this? This is where the angel tells him exactly why he is to leave. Herod is going to search for your child to destroy Him. Run to Egypt to save your wife and your son.

vii. Now we think, well if God told me this, I would be like Joseph and do what God tells me to do. We think so, but this isn’t so easy. Why? Because up to now, God has told Joseph to take his wife who he thinks was unfaithful to him and now, he tells him, to run away, to drop everything and leave. These are not easy things for Joseph to take in, even if God told us in a dream. This doesn’t make it easy.

viii. But in this case, we see the clear example of what wisdom is. Wisdom is knowing God and trusting who He is. Wisdom is being able to see the heart of God and to know who He is. What does this mean?

ix. One of the questions I am asked often is, If God is good, why does He allow so much evil in the world? This question almost assumes that because there is evil in the world, God is not good and if He is not good, then His love is flawed. People say, even I wouldn’t allow loved ones to suffer the way they do if I had the choice to prevent that. This type of thinking makes it seem like God doesn’t actually love us because He allows such pain and hurt in the world.

x. I think one of the best answers to this question is, what Tim Keller said in one of his conversations. He said I don’t believe it is any easier to handle or face suffering by disbelieving in God. I believe that is correct, but if we were to really try to answer this question, I’ve come to this conclusion.

xi. God is good despite all the evil in the world because we know that Christ came into the world. Why? Because He came to the world to overcome all this evil in the world. We can’t say God doesn’t love us because if He didn’t, He wouldn’t have come. I don’t want to focus so much on this question, but what we can’t say is, that He doesn’t love His creation and His people. We know that He loves the world, because He sent His son to die for us.

xii. So what is the point of this illustration that I am telling you? It’s to help you understand that wisdom is the ability to not only discern the truth, but to trust the truth.

xiii. Ok well, let’s think about the situation that Joseph is in. God is telling Joseph to pick up everything and go to a foreign country with nothing. Interesting though that they just received gold from the magi so probably he took the gold with him so he would have enough money to live while in Egypt. But other than that, he is to drop everything and leave. This is hard to do. Think about it from your context. If you had to drop everything, leave all your family behind and leave. This is hard even if you had the money to leave.

xiv. Well from this hardship what was Joseph’s response? Verse 14 tells us He did exactly what the angel told him to do. He did it without questioning. In the midst of a hard situation, Joseph didn’t give excuses to God. that he had to take care of errands like in Matthew 8:22 when Jesus said to the scribe to follow Him. Then one of the scribes in 8:21 responds by saying, Lord permits me to go and bury my father. This man was essentially saying, Lord, before I go with you, let me go take care of important matters. Let me go pack my bags, make sure that I will have all my things to be ready to go with you. Jesus then responds by telling this man, let the dead bury their own dead. Jesus essentially responds by telling the man, let them take care of these things. Your priority is to follow me.

xv. Joseph understood this and did exactly that. Now, this doesn’t mean that we are to drop everything and run to another country for the faith. God allows us to plan and take care of our things before we do things for God, but the purpose of what Jesus is telling us is, He is our priority. The focus is listening to God is more important than anything else in the world.

xvi. Ok, so how does this apply to us? The reality is, when God puts something hard in our life, He wants us to be like Joseph. How are we to be like Joseph? We should trust in God’s goodness and do as He says. How do we know what God wants us to do? The Bible calls us to pray and always rejoice, 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18. In everything, regardless of the situation, we are always to rejoice and pray. That is what we should strive to do. Why? Because that tells us what our priority is. Our priority is to always trust in God regardless of the circumstance. Circumstances will always change, but God is always the same. God is always good. Trust Him, not your experience.

b. Wisdom leads to submission (2:14-15)

i. So when we think about trusting God, we must trust the person who is telling us the truth. But it doesn’t end there. Through this passage, we see trusting is not just a passive choice. Rather, it is active. Trusting must be followed through with obedience.

ii. Think of this situation that Joseph was in. The angel tells Joseph, go to Egypt, just take the boy and his wife and run. Who’s to say that God will keep His end of the bargain? Again, when we think about obedience, it is heavily linked with trusting in God. What are we trusting about God? We trust that He is faithful in His promises and that ultimately He is good. He is good because He will keep His promises and ultimately do what is best for us.

iii. So we read verse 14, where Joseph does exactly what God told him to do so when it was still night, they left for Egypt. Joseph grabs his wife and son and gets there donkey and ride off to Egypt.

iv. Now verse 15 is interesting. It says that He reminded there until the death of Herod. Why is this important? Because this was to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the Prophet,. Out of Egypt I called my son.

v. We want to go over why this verse was important. This verse is very important. What is this verse saying? The reason why Joseph ran to Egypt was to fulfill a prophecy that the Old Testament speaks about twice. First in Numbers 24:8 and Hosea 11:1. It seems more likely that it is quoting Hosea because it speaks of Israel and Christ. When we think about the exodus, God leads Israel from Egypt.

vi. So when we think about the book of Hosea, it deals with the fact that Israel was guilty of idolatry. Yet throughout the book of Hosea, the constant theme is God promises future blessings if they would turn away from their idolatry and worship God. Hosea is perhaps the ultimate example of God’s unconditional love to His people despite their unfaithfulness, God is faithful. So when we think of those themes in our minds, when dealing with Hosea 11:1, where God says that when Israel was a child, I loved Him and out of Egypt I called my son, it is referring to the idea that early on in the years of Israel’s history, God loved them and delivered them because of His love for them. This prophecy is pointing to the fact that just as God delivered Israel although they were unfaithful, God would call all believers through His Son Jesus.

vii. This prophecy alludes back to 1:21 in which the angel proclaimed that Jesus would save His people from their sins.

viii. Now we understand that prophecy must be fulfilled to show the faithfulness of God, but on a practical level for us, why is this verse important? Because of what it says in the beginning of the verse. He remained there until the death of Herod.

ix. We have to understand the significance of this phrase. Joseph was told to run away from Herod because he would try to kill his son. So in order to save his family, he ran away.

x. Now, if we read this phrase, it has no significance. But this is why we have to read verse 19. In verse 19, it says when Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream and told Joseph to get up and take the child and His mother back to Israel. Why Lord? Why do I have to keep moving? The angel’s response is, in verse 20, for those who sought the child’s life are dead. This phrase is huge because of the historical truth behind this statement. This phrase is alluding back to Exodus 4:19. In Exodus 2-4, it tells us the story of Moses. Exodus 2, Moses is born and he grows up and as he grew up, he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his brothers. At this point, the Bible tells us that Moses knew He was Hebrew. So he killed the Egyptian and saved the Hebrew man. Then on the next day, He saw two Hebrew men fighting and he asked them, why are you trying to kill each other? And the people responded by saying, why are you telling us to stop fighting? If we don’t stop, are you going to kill us like you did to the Egyptian man? Then Pharaoh hears about this, he tries to kill Moses which causes him to run away to Egypt.

xi. So the story goes on where Moses runs away to Midian and meets his wife Zipporah and eventually Moses goes up Mount Horeb and meets God at the burning bush. And after Moses meets God at mount Horeb, God assigns him on a mission to go back to Pharaoh. Now think about this situation. Moses was terrified to go back to Egypt because Pharaoh tried to kill him which caused him to run away to Midian. SO if he were to return, Moses was afraid that Pharoah would try to kill him which is why Moses keeps insisting to God to send someone other than him. So Moses keeps giving the excuse that the people won’t believe me and insists to God that he's the wrong man. Then in Exodus 4:19, it says that God tells Moses when he was still in Midian to go back to Egypt for all the men who were seeking your life are dead. So in 4:20, it says so Moses took his wife and his sons and went back to Egypt.

xii. This helps us to understand that God is faithful in His promises. God will never go without keeping His promise to us. God told Joseph that he is to stay in Egypt until He tells him to leave. Joseph went to Egypt not knowing when God would tell him to return back to his homeland. Who knows how long that could take? But God kept His promise and reminded him when it was safe to return just as He did with Moses.

xiii. It is another reminder of God’s faithfulness in His promises. God allows every circumstance to happen and yet, can still orchestrate all events to align to His will. This verse serves as a reminder to know that although we don’t know the circumstance, God is in control.

3. CONCLUSION