THE ESCAPE TO EGYPT

Flight Into Egypt by Henry Ossawa Tanner, 1923

Matthew 2:13-18

And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, “Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be you there until I bring you 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”. [Hosea 11:1 (Greek: egontos, eks aiguptou ekalesa ton huion mou meaning, “Out of Egypt have I called the son of Me”.)  Matthew was saying the statement was made perfect in Christ.]

Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently inquired of the wise men. Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying, “In Rama was there a voice heard, lamentation, and weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not [Jeremiah 31:15]”.

This was an act true to Herod’s nature. He had obtained great power in his lifetime and he maintained it through the use of murder and terror. He had had wives and sons murdered as well as anyone else he deemed a threat to his throne. The monastery of the Essenes at Qumran had been violently destroyed by arson in 8 BC and Herod was the prime suspect. During these last years of his life, two teachers urged their pupil to remove the gold eagle, the symbol of Rome, from the Temple. Herod had these two teachers and their pupils burned alive.

The Jewish scholars were already anticipating the Messiah because they believed the Messiah would come in the seventy-seventh generation since creation and they believed the seventy-sixths had just passed. The Messiah was viewed as a deliverer who would free them from Rome and sit on David’s throne as King. What Herod thought of these Jewish ideas is hard to say. He himself was not Jewish. His father was Idumean (Edom) and his mother was Arabian. He had been made King of the Jews by Rome and conquest. This made him unpopular with the Orthodox, religious and political parties of the Jews. He was unpopular for his support of Rome, his flaunting of the Law of Moses and for heavy taxation. Obviously, knowing this, he would be leery of any talk of a new King of the Jews.

Amidst such rumors, along come the Magi, people known as “King Makers”. Asking where this new king was born. This must have scared Herod to death. His action of mass murder of children is certainly something he would have considered to nip any threat to his throne in the bud. One must remember, Herod when knowing his death was imminent ordered his followers to arrest all the leading men of the city and imprison them with orders that upon his death they were all to be killed. His reasoning was he was so hated by his subjects no one would mourn for his death and on the day he died he wanted to assure the people mourned. Such a man is capable of any depravity.

Josephus wrote that Herod suffered excruciating pain in his final days. From what Josephus described, modern doctor believe chronic kidney disease and Fournier’s gangrene (a necrotizing infection affecting the genitals). The visible worms and putrefaction he suffered were probably scabies or a form of lice. 

THE RETURN TO NAZARETH

Flight to Egypt by Giotto di Bondone, 1302-03

 (Sometime Later After 4 BC)

Matthew 2:19-23 and Luke 2:39b; 1:80; 2:40

But when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying, “Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and go into the land of Israel: for they are dead which sought the young child's life.”

And he arose, and took the young child and his mother, and came into the land of Israel. But when he heard that Archelaus [Herod Archelaus, 23 BC – Circa 18 AD. Ruled 4 BC – 6AD] did reign in Judaea in the room of his father Herod, he was afraid to go toward that place: notwithstanding, being warned of God in a dream, he turned aside.

There is as usual some historic debate over the rule by Herod Archelaus. He is said to have ruled from 4 BC through 6 AD. There are historians who say he ruled for a period while his father Herod the Great was still alive. There is also support for the idea that Herod the Great did not die until 1 BC, rather than in 4 BC. Herod the Great had two of his son murdered, and he may have planned the same fate for Archelaus, but something changed this ending. At any rate, Herod the Great had named his son Herod Antipas, from wife number four, Malthace, to succeed him. He then executed another son, Antipater III from his wife Doris in 4 BC and changed his will again, naming Herod Archelaus to the kingship. It is quite possible that Herod the Great gave over rule in the final days of his terrible illness to Archelaus before he actually died.  Herod Archelaus had a reign filled with constant turmoil and riot.

Herod the Great had Judas and Matthias, two teachers, along with their students burned alive for removing Roman Eagles from the Temple entrance as idols. This resulted in Archelaus facing angry mobs demanding rehabilitation of the teachers’ reputations. He had three thousand of these Jews executed during Passover.

Archelaus then went to Rome to have himself crowned king and while there men, a robber named Judas, a slave named Simon and a shepherd named Athronges led a number of riots. These three men may have been presenting themselves as the Messiah. Remember, the Jews were expecting the Messiah around this time and there were a number of people who made claim on the title before Jesus. Archelaus’ own army was unable to successfully quell these uprising and Rome had to step in and Two thousand people were crucified as a result.

Archelaus’ was so unpopular that he accomplished some unity between the Jews and the Samaritans who jointly petitioned Rome for his being de-throned. Augustus acceded to this in 6 AD and Herod Antipas was made the King.  Archelaus ended up banished to Gaul and died sometime before 18 AD.

No wonder Joseph hesitated to return to Bethlehem from Egypt. He was once again warned in a dream not to go there, but to take the family to Nazareth in Galilee.

They returned into the parts of Galilee and he came to and dwelled in their own city, a city called Nazareth that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, “He shall be called a Nazarene”.

Note this states “the prophets”, not “a specific prophet”. What is being said is that various prophets predicted Jesus would be despised or considered common. A Nazarene was a person looked down on, a prejudice of the time. Look to Nathanael’s question in John 1:46 (NIV): “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?) But don’t look for the quote in any particular prophet. However, keep in mind the Gospel writers, as well as the religious scholars of that day did have interpretations about the Scriptures (Old Testament books) and this reference could be to such prophetic passages as Isaiah 4:2: In that day shall the branch of the LORD be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the earth shall be excellent and comely for them that are escaped of Israel. (NIV)

The name Nazareth can be translated as Town of the Branch. Jesus as the Son of God was the Branch of God.  (Do not confuse Nazarene with Nazirite, who was someone that had taken a special vow to God, such as Samson.)

It is not clear how long Jesus was kept in Egypt, but he is described as a young child here. “Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and go into the land of Israel: for they are dead which sought the young child's life.”