An Unsettling Question—A Sobering Answer

The Passage

Mat 2:13-23 NKJV

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." 14 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."

16 Then Herod, when he saw that he was deceived by the wise men, was exceedingly angry; and he sent forth and put to death all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all its districts, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the wise men. 17 Then was fulfilled what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying:

18 "A voice was heard in Ramah, Lamentation, weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping [for] her children, Refusing to be comforted, Because they are no more."

19 Now when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, 20 saying, "Arise, take the young Child and His mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the young Child's life are dead." 21 Then he arose, took the young Child and His mother, and came into the land of Israel. 22 But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea instead of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. And being warned by God in a dream, he turned aside into the region of Galilee. 23 And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, "He shall be called a Nazarene."

A Little Background

Back in Genesis, God promised Abram He would make of him a great nation, but it wasn’t until Abram (Abraham) was 100 years old that the promised son, Isaac, was born.  Isaac had two sons—twins, Jacob and Esau.  Though both were grandsons of Abraham, the generational line that would be the nation Israel, and through which Messiah Jesus would be born came through Jacob, not Esau. 

Esau’s descendants became the people of Edom, cousins really, of the Israelites.  The people of Edom were hostile to the Israelites.  They denied them passage through their land when they left Egypt and were frequent enemies throughout Israel’s history.  In Jesus’ day, Edom was known as Idumea.  Herod was an Edomite.

Some Explanation

In the last entry, I explained that Herod the Great was a jealous tyrant.  When the wise men arrived in Jerusalem, they were seeking the newly-born king of the Jews so that they could worship Him—not Herod.  Herod’s heart was indeed troubled.  Herod secretly called the wise men to him (vs. 7) and determined when the star appeared.*  Herod was conniving to find a way to find this new king to kill Him.**  His treacherous plan was to deceive the wise men into bringing word to him as to where Jesus was so that he, too, could supposedly worship Him.  But these Magi were truly wise by obeying God’s warning not to return to Herod.

It seems that very soon after the wise men left, that Joseph also had a dream.  An angel appeared to Him to get up and quickly take the child and His mother to Egypt.  Joseph immediately obeyed the angel’s warning and fled to Egypt in the middle of the night with Mary and Jesus.

Verse 18 quotes from Jeremiah 31:15, ““A voice was heard in Ramah, Lamentation, weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, Refusing to be comforted, Because they are no more.”  This prophecy was originally fulfilled when Babylon invaded Israel and took away the choice youth.  Daniel was one of those young men.  But it was also fulfilled in this account of Herod’s brutality.  “Rachel mourning for her children...” is a poetical way of referring to Israel’s grief at Herod’s cruelty.

Observations and Insights

The sobering nature of this passage struck home for me when I read the Gospels last December.  As a mother and now grandmother of very young children, this passage tears at my heart.  In light of the pain in all our hearts at the Newtown massacre of 2012, the utter terror of this passage impacted me deeply.  A very troubling question arose in my heart.  Jesus, God the Son, not only knew beforehand that Herod would slaughter these children, Herod’s slaughter was specifically instigated by Jesus’ birth.  “Lord, Jesus, it was because of Your arrival Herod murdered these babies.  How can I process such a thought?”  I didn’t like the question in my heart.

I don’t have the complete answer to that question, but as I continued to read the Gospels, my heart had more peace as I understood the fuller picture of God’s mercy and love.  Herod was indeed evil, but in truth Herod’s action was the result of a greater evil when the serpent deceived Eve and all humanity experienced death and the destruction of sin’s consequences.  Because all of us are born in Adam’s sin, all of us are marked for death.  According to John 3:18, 36 we are all condemned, and subject to God’s wrath.  But God is both severe and good (Romans 11:22).  His righteous wrath must punish the wicked—that is all of us who reject His free gift of salvation.  BUT God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son, that whoever believes on Him will not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)  It is not God’s desire that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9) 

Jesus’ coming was for life.  He is LIFE. (John 14:6, John 11:25)  I ache for “Rachel”; I ache for Newtown, and the killing fields of Cambodia, the Holocaust, and the millions of babies killed since abortion became legal.  I also ache for all those who face eternity without Jesus Christ.  I can also rejoice because Jesus came for that very reason--to provide eternal and abundant life for all who believe.

*Some Biblical scholars believe that Jesus was probably two years old because Herod killed all the babies two and under.
**Reading what the Bible really says shows us the error of some popular Christmas music, such as  We Three Kings.  Another favorite is Do You Hear What I Hear.  Most definitely the king did not issue a call to "pray for peace...everywhere."

Next:    Matthew 2:13-23