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Elder Bryce Lowrance

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The Flight Into Egypt

7 April 2014

And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him. When he arose, he took the young child and his mother by night, and departed into Egypt: and was there until the death of Herod: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I called my son. - Matthew 2:13-15

This portion of the gospel account is often called the “flight into Egypt.” When I was a kid, I thought this meant they took an airplane. What it really means is that they left in a hurry because of imminent danger.

When the wise men did not return to Herod as he instructed, he became irate. His intention was to kill Jesus under the guise of going to worship Him. Now, his plan to kill Jesus involves killing every child under two years old just to make sure he gets the infant king.

This event had to happen chronologically after the temple dedication because Mary was not allowed in public to travel for the first forty days after giving birth. The visit of the wise men came after the dedication, and the same night the wise men leave, God once again speaks to Joseph in a dream.

To me, this is amazing! We know precious little about Joseph. After these few scenes about the youth of Jesus, we seldom hear his name again in Scripture. I think that Joseph often gets a “bad rap” because he is not listed as one of the disciples during Jesus’ earthly ministry. This is a mistake.

God speaks to Joseph and guides him. God only does this for His children. He is called a “just man,” and he obeys God every time he is instructed to do something. This sounds like an excellent disciple to me!

My guess is that Joseph died before Jesus started his earthly ministry. In John 19, Jesus gives instructions to John to take care of Mary as if she were his own mother. If Joseph were still alive, this would not have been necessary.

Nevertheless, Joseph immediately take Mary and Jesus to Egypt in the middle of the night. God sends them there because Herod has no jurisdiction there, and would not be looking for them there anyway. However, the powerful significance of Egypt cannot be ignored.

Egypt was once a place of slavery for Israel and even had time where the Pharoah tried to have all the children killed at birth. Now, God sends His Son to Egypt for protection. What marvelous providence!

Matthew tells us that this is a fulfillment of prophecy. He is most likely referring to Hosea chapter 11.

When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt. - Hosea 11:1

There is a marvelous sovereign grace message in this short verse. God did not call Jesus out of Egypt so that Israel would love Him. God called Jesus back to die because He loved us!

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Tags: egypt, family, harmony_of_the_gospels, herod, jesus, joseph, mary, matthew

Welcome

Brentwood Hills Primitive Baptist Church is a community of believers working together to transform our lives to the image of Jesus Christ. We believe it is our duty and privilege to live the gospel of the doctrines of grace in such a way as to edify the families within our church and other children of God in our community. Through regular worship based on strong Biblical principles, fellowship, admonishment, and outreach, we glory in the grace of the sovereign God working in our lives thereby showing the Spirit of God in the world.

Brentwood Hills was organized in 1906 in Fort Worth, Texas as Laodicea Primitive Baptist Church. You can find much of the history of the church, as well as other churches here: Primitive Baptist History Database

We identify ourselves as an old-line Primitive Baptist church. If you read our Articles of Faith, you’ll see that we hold to such doctrines as the inspiration and inerrancy of the Bible. We recognize the King James Version (KJV) as the only English translation worthy of being called the Bible. We believe in salvation solely by the grace of a sovereign God. We believe that Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, came to the earth to do the will of His Father, which was to deliver from the sentence of death all those the Father gave Him before the world began. We believe that Jesus fully satisfied the Father by atoning for all the sins of all His people. In time, we believe the Holy Spirit comes to each person that belongs to Jesus and regenerates them. Then (and only then) can anyone have faith, which is a fruit of the Spirit, by which you are able to believe the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ. Whether or not you ever hear the gospel, or believe it if you did hear it, or obey it if you did believe it, rest assured that Jesus will remain forever faithful to you because, if He died for you, He will never deny that you belong to Him.

We believe that everyone for whom Christ died will without fail be raised again from the dead to a glorified life. Even if we are alive when He returns to raise the dead, we shall be changed to a glorified life. All the Redeemed will meet the Lord in the air. Then He will take us to Heaven and there we shall forever be with the Lord. The wicked will be raised at the same time as the righteous, but the wicked shall go away into everlasting punishment along with Satan and his angels. Until that glorious day when Christ returns to raise the dead, He has provided a place for His people to find rest for their souls. This place is the Church. Jesus Christ set-up His church on this earth before His death on the Cross. The church is there for those of His people who have come to believe that God saved them by His Son, Jesus Christ. To believe that Christ “paid it all” gives believers the strongest motivation to serve Him. Once enlightened to this glorious truth, then the child of God should feel an obligation to become and remain an active member of the His church. To serve the Lord in His church makes for one of the great blessings to experience this side of Heaven. It fulfills you to serve in His church and it gives your life purpose and meaning.