The Protective Care of God

Introduction

A long time ago I decided that one of the hardest parts of parenting is knowing when to jump in an protect my children, and when they needed to be allowed to face certain pains...

Modern “helicopter” parenting...

There isn’t always a clear line between giving our kids protective care and becoming overprotective and stifling their growth.

Classic Example: A dad’s dating daughter...

Sometimes our protective care is misplaced or becomes helicopter parenting.

While I’m not sure I have all the answers about parenting, I do know that it is important that we all understand a few things about God’s protective care.

This morning we are going to look at an often ignored section of Scripture, Matthew 2:13-23. In it we will learn something about God’s protective care.

What should we remember about God’s protective care as we face challenging times?

The Protective Care of God

Read Matthew 2:13-15

Flee to Egypt...

φεύγω = flee (English word fugitive comes from)

There was a large Jewish presence in Egypt (possibly as many as one million)

Joseph obeys immediately...

Eighty mile journey to the border and another hundred and fifty to two hundred miles to a Jewish settlement.

Don’t forget: God provided for the trip: the gifts from the wise men…(God always provides exactly what we need)

Interesting Note: Joseph never says one word in Scripture. He is a great example of simple obedience to the Lord.

This was to fulfill...

From Hosea 11:1

In it’s original context, this passage points to the exodus experience. The correlation here is that just as Israel was saved through God’s mighty power from slavery in Egypt, so God would save people from the slavery of their sin through this child of promise.

Thus, Jesus becomes a new Moses, one who comes out of Egypt to save his people.

It is an example of typology.

Typology is where something or someone in the OT is understood to correspond with something or someone in the NT.

Leon Morris: “…the divine purpose runs through the whole of Scripture, and it all points in some way to the climax, the coming of Christ.”

Sometimes OT usage in the NT is as much about reminding the readers about what God has done in the past, giving the people hope that God will continue to provide for His people.

Additionally, for Matthew’s Jewish audience it was absolutely vital to make connections between the Messiah and Moses, as Moses is the embodiment of the first savior of the Jews. Therefore, Jesus is the representation of the true Israel and the greater Moses.

Read Matthew 2:16-18

One of the darkest passages in all of the Bible...

Herod saw the child as a threat to his rule, so he wanted to do whatever he could to remove the threat.

Think about this: not only is killing innocent babies horrendous enough, but his goal was to kill the Messiah! No doubt, this was one of the most disgusting acts in human history. 

Did this really happen?

Only here in Matthew. None of the other Gospels, nor the Jewish historian Josephus mention this, which is surprising.

This is keeping with Herod’s character.

In fact, on his death bed Herod ordered that all the Jewish leaders be killed upon his death so the people would mourn his passing. This wasn’t carried out.

Herod’s list of dead bodies includes: the last remnants of the Hasmonean dynasty of Jewish high priestly kings who ruled before him, more than half the Sanhedrin, 300 court officers, He also had his brother-in-law, mother-in-law Alexandra, first wife Mariamne, and three of his sons (Aristobulus, Alexander and Antipater).

There probably wasn’t that many children under two years old in Bethlehem.

Maybe twenty or less.While this is a tragedy for sure, it probably wouldn’t have been remembered by people outside of Israel.

Additionally, Bethlehem was small and insignificant to the average person.

It was inhabited by poor people, who historically have often been marginalized and ignored by the upper classes.

It is unknown why Josephus didn’t include this, but his failure to report this incident is hardly justification for assuming that Matthew made up the story.

In fact, logic tells us that if Matthew is trying to convince a Jewish audience of the trustworthiness of Jesus as the Promised Messiah, then he could hardly be expected to make up a story that they could easily verify for themselves by asking people in or around Bethlehem.

It’s far more likely that Josephus either had no knowledge of this incident, or chose not to include it for his own reasons.

What’s Jeremiah got to do with it?

This is from Jeremiah 31:15.

In it’s original context, Jeremiah tells of the time when Nebuchadnezzer’s army gathered all the captives from Judah into the town of Ramah before they were taken to Babylon.

Jeremiah personifies the mothers of Israel by using the name of the matriarch Rachel, to speak of the mourning for her children who were being carried away into slavery.

Matthew sees an understandable correlation between both horrific events.

Yet, even in this passage of mourning, there is hope: see Jeremiah 31:16-17, 31-34

Jeremiah 31:16–17 ESV

Thus says the Lord: “Keep your voice from weeping, and your eyes from tears, for there is a reward for your work, declares the Lord, and they shall come back from the land of the enemy. There is hope for your future, declares the Lord, and your children shall come back to their own country.

Jeremiah 31:31–34 ESV

“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”

Read Matthew 2:19-23

Herod’s dead, go back to Israel...

It’s unknown how long Jesus family was in Egypt, but it may have been a very short time.

Jesus wasn’t to be a fugitive in Egypt for long because He had a much more important task to undertake in Israel.

Archelaus the Incompetent...

After his death, Herod’s kingdom was split between his three surviving sons; Philip, Antipas, and Archelaus.

Archelaus was given the title of ethnarch over Judea. He was both cruel and incompetent as a leader, and was eventually removed by Rome in A.D. 6. For example, in order to put down an apparent rebellion in the temple at the Passover, he sent troops in and killed about three thousand worshipers.

After this and many other cruel incidents, Augustus removed him, fearing a revolution. He was banished to Gaul and his former lands were given to the rule of Roman prefects.

The Nazarene...

Nazareth was in the lower Galilean hills, halfway between the Mediterranean Sea and the Sea of Galilee. 

Nazareth is held in high esteem today, but that simply because Jesus grew up there. In Jesus day it was not prominent at all. In fact, it and its people were looked down upon.

This was because they had an unpolished dialect, lack of culture, and possibly some that were less-than devoted to Judaism, possibly illustrated in the people casting him out at the beginning of his public ministry. 

What OT passage is this from?

It’s actually not a direct quote from the OT. In fact, Nazareth isn’t even mentioned in the OT.

There is a word play involved because the word nezer can either mean “branch” or “light.” Thus, Isaiah 11:1 is probably at the heart here.

Isaiah 11:1 ESV

There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.

Nazareth (and Galilee for that matter) was seen is a disrespectful light according to many Jews in it’s day (see John 1:46; 7:41).Thus, Matthew’s point is less about showing that Jesus fulfilled a specific verse here as it is that Jesus fulfilled much of what the OT taught about the overall rejection of God’s chosen by His own people.

I tend to believe that this is Matthew’s way of saying that the prophets pointed towards the Messiah being one who would be despised. Therefore, Jesus growing up in the most despised of towns fit well with what they already believed.

It’s like using the term “redneck.” There’s a certain stigma that goes with that. And, that stigma is more negative in the cities than in the country, where it actually becomes a term of endearment.

What should we remember about God’s protective care as we face challenging times?

God will always protect His divine plans.

Jesus is the ultimate fulfillment of God’s promises. God’s plan was that Jesus would “seek and save the lost.”

Everything in this section of Matthew’s Gospel points to Jesus being, in essence, the new and better Moses.

Because of this, God’s protective care is assured. But not simply because He loves Jesus and wants to protect Him from harm. In fact, Jesus will one day face harm like no one before or after would experience. No, it was to protect His divine plan of salvation for His people.

Why does God’s protective care of His divine plans matter to us today?

First, we can be assured of God’s protective care when we are in the middle fulfilling God’s divine plans for our lives. How do we know when we are fulfill God’s divine plans for our lives? The next five sermons will explore that.

Second, we can be assured that the plan of salvation is so vital to God that He will do what it takes to make it come about.

Third, this should remind us how much our salvation matters to God, and how much the mission of the church matters to God.

God’s protective care can overcome even the most unspeakable evil.

The murder of children is an unspeakable evil. Born or unborn!

Here’s the trouble many have with this: If God is so good, how could he allow horrendous evils like this happen?

An entire study of theology is called theodicy. It’s the study of “divine justice,” specifically deal with the question of why a good God allows evil to exist. It’s far to big of a topic to cover this morning, but to overly simplify a complex topic, the basic idea is that God has His reasons; some we can discover and others we cannot.

What we do know, however, is that it wasn’t God’s will for Herod to order these children killed. Nor is it God’s will when anyone sins; small sins, great sins, or horrid sins like this. These are a result of the world, the flesh, and the devil, which drive mankind to sin.

We also know that God will work in and through His people in spite of these horrible things; and even will sometimes use the results of these to help people grow in the grace and knowledge of Him.

Finally, some glorious day, God will execute final judgment on all sin and those who’s sins have been forgiven will have a fellowship with God that goes beyond anything we could have ever hoped for in this life!

God’s protective care should result in our trust and obedience, regardless of where it leads us.

Again, I love Joseph’s example here. He just simply obeys God.

Why is this so important for us today?

A biblical promise that we might not like: God’s people will, more often than not, suffer at the hands of those who do not believe God.

Sometimes the suffering is severe, but often it is less rigorous and subtle.

Yet, make no mistake about it, the unbelieving world will never be a friend to believers.

Craig Keener: “…the injustice of a world run by rebels against God cannot thwart his ultimate purposes for justice in the world.”

Yet, in the face of this, God still calls His people to trust and obey.

Suffering is a common theme throughout Scripture, but it is through this suffering where God’s people hear His voice and see His mighty works best.

So, trust and obey!