Sermon Tone Analysis

Good morning CCLC!

We are in Matthew 2.

Matthew's key theme is Jesus is the King of the Jews...the Messiah.

In chapter 1 he demonstrated Jesus is the King through his earthly lineage, and His divine lineage.

And, in Chapter 2, at Jesus' birth Wise Men came from the east as led by the star, to worship the King of the Jews, and to present Him with gifts fit for a King.

Today, we will finish Chapter 2 looking at verses 13 to 23.

Matthew lays out 4 prophecies in Chapter 2 that Jesus has fulfilled further demonstrating He is the King of the Jews.

We will also see God directing Jesus' family in His early years...and Joseph's obedience.

Being directed by God can be one of the most challenging experiences one faces.

It requires walking in faith, patiently waiting on the Lord, and being flexible...three very difficult things for us to do.

Joseph will serve as a great example for us today...a man who obediently walked in faith with the Lord.

Well, let's pray and then get into the word!

Matt 2:13 "Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, "Arise, take the young Child and His mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I bring you word; for Herod will seek the young Child to destroy Him."

1. So, we see here in verse 13 that the events here take place after "they", speaking of the Wise Men, departed from Bethlehem in Judea.

2. An angel of the Lord appears to Joseph in a dream...this is the 2nd time an angel has appeared to Joseph.

3. Interesting to note that the angel did not continue appearing to Mary, but to Joseph.

This may be some indicator that the Lord recognizes the husband as the head of the wife, as scripture states in Eph 5:23.

There is order and authority in the marital and family relationship, and God sends word to Joseph to lead his family as the Lord leads Joseph.

4. This angel sends this message to Joseph, "Arise, take the young Child and His mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I bring you word; for Herod will seek the young Child to destroy Him."

5.

You may be thinking, "Egypt, why would God call them back to Egypt?

Didn't He take them out of Egypt in the Exodus?"

Yes, He did.

But, here are some reasons why Egypt made a lot of sense, both naturally and supernaturally:

6. Egypt was a natural place of refuge for Joseph's family.

Herod was seeking to destroy Jesus, and Egypt was outside his jurisdiction, plus according to Philo (writing circa a.d.

40), its population included about a million Jews.

7. Seeking refuge in Egypt, may also take the Jewish reader's minds to thinking about Jacob's family who sojourned to and sought refuge in Egypt during the great famine in Gen 46-50.

Egypt preserved Israel then, and would preserve the Messiah now.

8. Finally, as we will see in ver 15 of Matt 2, this journey from Egypt, and the return to Israel will also fulfill the prophecy of Hos 11:1.

9. So, there are several natural and supernatural reasons why God called Joseph to take his family to Egypt.

10.

In Matt 2:13, the Lord providentially speaks to Joseph in a dream, delivering a message that is directing His family to safety.

But, this is no easy task...no simple step.

11.

We have seen that Mary and Joseph are now in a house in Bethlehem, and they have been in Bethlehem for a couple years now.

Joseph is likely working, and though poor they have likely set up their house with a bed, maybe some furniture, utensils to cook with, and now they are getting a leading from God via a dream to move to Egypt for a season...which would be very stressful for most people.

Joseph is not told how long that season would be, and the reason for the move is because king Herod the Great...known for his brutality and paranoia...Herod wants to destroy, meaning "kill" Jesus...he's was coming after Joseph's family!

12.

I don't think you call that a dream, I think that's called a nightmare.

13.

But, look, amidst what is mostly some bad news (you have to move...you have to leave your material things behind...you have to leave your job...and the most powerful man in the city wants to kill your son)...look at the amazing thing God does.

He reaches out from heaven to protect and preserve the Christ and His family.

He divinely warns them of impending danger and guides them on where they are to reside for safety.

14.

One scholar stated, "From infancy the threat of death hung over our Lord.

It is apparent that He was born to die, but only at the appointed time.

Anyone, who walks in God's will is immortal until his work is done."

And, so it was true for Jesus, no matter who plotted against Him...He did not go to the cross until His appointed time.

15.

Not only did God divinely protect Joseph's family, He also financially provided for Joseph's family which was needed as Jesus was born into a poor family.

16.

In Luke 2:24, the baby Jesus was brought to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord, and Joseph offered a sacrifice of a pair of turtledoves, which according to Lev 12:8 was an acceptable substitute if the family could not afford a lamb as a sacrifice.

So, we can assume from scripture they were a poor family.

So, when God guides them to Egypt, He does not send them empty handed.

Prior to this direction from God, He provided...Gold, Frankincense, and Myrrh...they did not need to wonder, "How are we going to fund this trip?"

The funds were provided by God.

17.

There's a saying "Where God guides, He provides" and this was certainly true in the case of Joseph's family...

18.

You likely can look back on your life and remember a time when the Lord guided you, and provided for you.

I know I can.

19.

When the Lord stirred my heart to go to Bible College in 2012...we didn't know exactly how we would finance the journey, but when we stepped out in faith...and, unprovoked, many people from our church just started giving us checks and someone even bought us a 5x10 trailer.

Praise God!

20.

When the Lord stirred my heart for missions, a church committed to cover all our living and travel expenses...which they did the entire time we were in the Philippines.

Again, I say, praise God!

Where God Guides, He does indeed provide!

21.

The Lord was guiding Joseph, and He provided for Joseph.

If He is truly calling you to a task, He will provide for you as well.

22.

It is interesting to me that God varies on how He may call a person to a task, and the timing of when He provides may vary as well:

23.

Sometimes you may see the provisions in advance, like Joseph did and like I did in going to the Philippines.

I can't speak for Joseph, but for me, I'm not sure if I had enough faith to go to the Philippines if a clear financial provision was not already laid out.

Perhaps Joseph needed this as well.

24.

But, God is diverse in His dealings with us, and sometimes, you may not see the provisions until you step out in faith.

I remember when the Lord guided us to build a church in the Philippines...

I was not fully certain where the funds were going to come from, but was sure the Lord called us to build.

I was driving to the hardware store with the Filipino contractor, and on the way to the store, an American man emailed me committing to fund the entire project!

Such an amazing memory!

Sometimes...God pours out provision as we step out in faith.

25.

And, if the Lord doesn't provide...well...it may not be His will... James 4:3 states "When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures."

If we have a selfish motive...if we are trying to exert our will...don't expect provision from the Lord.

26.

For Joseph...the move to Egypt was definitely God's will.

God provided gold, frankincense, and myrrh and spoke to Joseph in a dream...sojourning in Egypt...safety...was definitely God's plan.

27.

Let's see Joseph's reaction...

continue to verses 14-15

Matt 2:14-15 "When he arose, he took the young Child and His mother by night and departed for Egypt, 15 and was there until the death of Herod, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, "Out of Egypt I called My Son."

1.

In verse 14, we see Joseph's reaction to the divine warning...immediate obedience...just like we saw in Matt 1:24 when the angel of the Lord commanded him to take Mary as his wife and to name her Son "Jesus."

When the Lord speaks to you, follow Joseph's example here.

Don't be a Jonah and fight the Lord, and run the opposite direction...that didn't work out so well for Jonah.

Be like Joseph...the Lord speaks and he obeyed.

2. We call Jesus "Lord"...and by definition "Lord" means "Master."

If you have served in the military and a higher ranking officer gives a command, you listen; or if you have a boss and they tell you what to do, you do it; if you are a student and your teacher or Principle gives you instruction, you listen...this is assuming you respect order and are not defiant of course.

But, so often when the Lord speaks we fight Him, or question Him, or even worse we just ignore Him.

Joseph could have dismissed the dream and ignored the Lord, but instead He obeyed.

He displays the proper Master/Servant relationship.

Be like Joseph.

3. So, Joseph wakes up, and under the cover of night he takes the young Child and His mother and they depart for Egypt.

4. Notice Jesus is listed before Mary in verse 14...unusual to list a child before their parent, unless the child was superior to the parent...just another simple observation demonstrating Jesus' superiority to Mary...she's not a co-redemptress.

5.

In verse 15, we see that Joseph and his family remain in Egypt until the death of Herod the Great...

6.

Now this puts definite strain on the accuracy of the Gregorian calendar's calculation of when Jesus was born.

In the Gregorian calendar B.C. means "Before Christ" and A.D. means "Anno Domini" (not "After Death"), Anno Domini is Latin for "In the Year of Our Lord."

So, Jesus was born in the year 0...right?

No, that's not right...there is no year 0...immediately following 1 B.C. is 1 A.D....ok so Jesus must have been born in 1 A.D....right?

Well, no.

What does the Bible say?

7. The Bible tells us Jesus was in Egypt "until the death of Herod" and according to history, Herod died in 4 B.C. So, 4 years "before Christ" Herod died, but how can that be?

Herod the Great was alive when Jesus was alive, so how did he die in 4 B.C....4 years Before Christ?

Well, simply speaking, the Gregorian Calendar founders did a poor job calculating the year of the birth of our Lord.

So, when was Jesus born?

8. Well, let's look at these details...Herod wanted to kill Jesus, who was a "young child" when the Wise Men visited.