12 Days of Christmas: Day 11
After they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother and flee to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to look for the child to kill him.” Then he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt.
After Herod had died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt saying, “Get up, take the child and his mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who were seeking the child’s life are dead.” So he got up and took the child and his mother and returned to the land of Israel.
(Matthew 2:13–14, 19–21)
It’s not too difficult to discern one of the reasons why Joseph was picked to be the earthly father of our Lord Jesus: obedience. In the second of his four dreams, Joseph was told to get up and flee to Egypt because Jesus’ life was in danger. Joseph was neither aware of the specific danger nor how to avert it, and yet God directs him in precisely what to do. God even supplied the means by way of the gifts of the Magi. Everything was covered.
The safest place to be is always in the center of God’s will. Nothing ever takes God by surprise. To Joseph’s credit, when the angel of the Lord speaks to him in dreams, we discover him moving and moving quickly. So often we rebel against obedience by ignoring, delaying, questioning, dismissing, or fleeing from God’s directives. Seriously, when are we going to learn that God always has our best interests at heart! His way is often not the easiest way, but it is always the best way. It really boils down to trust.
The journey for Joseph and his young family to Egypt would be both inconvenient and perilous, yet Joseph remained steadfast in the heavenly vision he had received. He made no objection nor did he dawdle, but immediately got up and set out during the night making quick work of obedience.
Bit by bit the story continues to unfold for Joseph, Mary, and the baby Jesus. Certainly, God, who makes known the end from the beginning, could have given Joseph all of His instructions at once. Yet, as He most often chooses to do, God makes His way known gradually—revealing His mind and way in increments. He does this in order for us to be reminded of His faithfulness in leading and also to teach us to continue to listen for His still small voice—waiting upon His instructions and trusting in His ways as best for our lives.
God always goes before us. Waiting upon His leading teaches us a myriad of things not the least of which is patience and obedience. It never comes easy to wait—it is far easier to take matters into our own hands and run ahead. But we get usually find ourselves in trouble when we pursue the devices of our own imaginations.
God sent Joseph and his young family into Egypt and then he brought them out. We can be sure there is always purpose in His plans. He is leading even when we cannot readily discern it. We should follow Christ in simplicity and faith because the paths in which He leads us all end in glory and immortality. It is true they may not be smooth paths—they may be covered with sharp flinty trials, but they lead to the “city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God”…All the ways of the Lord are loving and faithful for those who keep the demands of His covenant.
Become More
The safest place to be is always in the center of God’s will. Nothing ever takes God by surprise.
“God is God. Because He is God, He is worthy of my trust and obedience. I will find rest nowhere but in His holy will, a will that is unspeakably beyond my largest notions of what He is up to.” —Elisabeth Elliot
“In our walk with God we are told explicitly by Christ Himself that it would be His Spirit who would be sent to guide us and to lead us into all truth (John 16:13). This same gracious Spirit takes the truth of God, the Word of God, and makes it plain to our hearts and minds and spiritual understanding. It is He who gently, tenderly, but persistently says to us, ‘This is the way—walk in it.’ And as we comply and cooperate with His gentle promptings a sense of safety, comfort and well-being envelops us.” —Phillip Keller
“Let’s put full trust in our Leader, since we know that, come prosperity or adversity, sickness or health, popularity or contempt, His purpose shall be worked out, and that purpose shall be pure, unmingled good to every heir of mercy…His dear love will make us far more blessed than those who sit at home and warm their hands at the world’s fire.” —Charles Spurgeon
Teach me how you want me to live, LORD; lead me along a level path because of those who wait to ambush me!
(Psalm 27:11)
But this I call to mind; therefore I have hope: the LORD’s loyal kindness never ceases; his compassions never end. They are fresh every morning; your faithfulness is abundant! “My portion is the LORD,” I have said to myself, so I will put my hope in him.
(Lamentations 3:21-24)
As for the Rock, his work is perfect, for all his ways are just. He is a reliable God who is never unjust, he is fair and upright.
(Deuteronomy 32:4)
Where would I be if I did not believe I would experience the LORD’s favor in the land of the living? Rely on the LORD! Be strong and confident! Rely on the LORD!
(Psalm 27:13-14)
Read the Word
Matthew 2:13–23
2:13 After they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother and flee to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to look for the child to kill him.” 2:14 Then he got up, took the child and his mother during the night, and went to Egypt. 2:15 He stayed there until Herod died. In this way what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet was fulfilled: “I called my Son out of Egypt.”
2:16 When Herod saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, he became enraged. He sent men to kill all the children in Bethlehem and throughout the surrounding region from the age of two and under, according to the time he had learned from the wise men. 2:17 Then what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled:
2:18 “A voice was heard in Ramah,
weeping and loud wailing,
Rachel weeping for her children,
and she did not want to be comforted, because they were gone.”
2:19 After Herod had died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt 2:20 saying, “Get up, take the child and his mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who were seeking the child’s life are dead.” 2:21 So he got up and took the child and his mother and returned to the land of Israel. 2:22 But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. After being warned in a dream, he went to the regions of Galilee. 2:23 He came to a town called Nazareth and lived there. Then what had been spoken by the prophets was fulfilled, that Jesus would be called a Nazarene.