New Exodus

¹³ After the wise men (magi) were gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up! Flee to Egypt with the Child and His mother,” the angel said. “Stay there until I tell you to return, because Herod is going to search for the Child to kill Him.” ₁₄ That night Joseph left for Egypt with the Child and Mary, His mother, ¹⁵ and they stayed there until Herod’s death. This fulfilled what the Lord had spoken through the prophet: “I called My Son out of Egypt.” ¹⁶ Herod was furious when he realized that the wise men had outwitted him. He sent soldiers to kill all the boys in and around Bethlehem who were two years old and under, based on the wise men’s report of the star’s first appearance. ¹⁷ Herod’s brutal action fulfilled what God had spoken through the prophet Jeremiah: ¹⁸ “A cry was heard in Ramah— weeping and great mourning. Rachel weeps for her children, refusing to be comforted, for they are dead.” ¹⁹ When Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt. ²⁰ “Get up!” the angel said. “Take the Child and His mother back to the land of Israel, because those who were trying to kill the Child are dead.” ²¹ So Joseph got up and returned to the land of Israel with Jesus and His mother. ²² But when he learned that the new ruler of Judea was Herod’s son Archelaus, he was afraid to go there. Then, after being warned in a dream, he left for the region of Galilee. ²³ So the family went and lived in a town called Nazareth. This fulfilled what the prophets had said: “He will be called a Nazarene.” Matthew 2:13-23 (NLT)

This section of Matthew’s Gospel includes three more Old Testament references fulfilled in Jesus’ life (see Matthew 2:15, 17, 23). Matthew explains how Jesus’ personal history repeats certain aspects of Israel’s national history. As an infant nation, God led Israel into Egypt (see Genesis 46:2-3, 8; Exodus 1:1-4) just as Jesus did as a Child (Matthew 2:13-23). Similarly, Israel of old is called God’s firstborn son (Exodus 4:22-23; see also Jeremiah 31:9; Hosea 11:1) and Jesus is called God’s unique Son sent to Egypt for protection (Matthew 2:15; see also John 1:18; John 3:16; Romans 1:4). Similar to Moses’ escape from Pharaoh, Jesus escaped King Herod’s murderous plot to kill Him (see Exodus 1:15-22; Exodus 2:1-4; Matthew 2:16-18). When the danger had passed, God called Jesus out of Egypt similarly to God calling Israel of old out of Egypt during the times of Moses (see Hosea 11:1). These events show God’s sovereignty working to save His people (see Luke 9:31; Matthew 1:21; Acts 4:12).

God called Israel out of Egypt to fulfill His promises made to Abraham and to bring His people into blessings and grace (see Genesis 12:1-3; Genesis 13:14-16; Genesis 15:5). Jesus’ life is the second and greater Exodus to fulfill the purposes God revealed in the first Exodus.  As the first Exodus was marked by Pharaoh’s murderous destruction of Israelite children (see Exodus 1:15-22) so the second Exodus begins with Herod’s destruction of Israelite children (Matthew 2:16-18; see also Jeremiah 31:15). Yet God followed both Exoduses with deliverance and blessings (see Exodus 15:1-21; Matthew 28:1-20). Our faith in Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection lead us into a new Exodus out of bondage to sin and death into a glorious freedom as children of God (John 8:32, 36; Galatians 5:1, 13).  

References

Life Application Study Bible (Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Pub., 2005).

ESV Study Bible, English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles,

2008).

Ross, Mark E. Let’s Study Matthew (Carlisle, PA: The Banner of Truth Trust, 2009).