Christ child brought to Egypt as Herod slaughters newborn infants.

Matthew 2:13-18

Click for a description of the mark of the beast.
Click for a description of the image of the beast.

“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.” Matthew 2:13

“They” who departed were the Magi/wisemen. The wisemen found the place where Mary and the baby Jesus was, and they rejoiced with an abundance of joy as they offered the Christ child gifts. Then they departed to go to their own land in the East, as described in the post on Matthew 2:7-12.

An angel appeared to Joseph in a dream, not in bodily form, and as written in Hebrews 1:14, “Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation?” The angel that appeared to Joseph came to protect the source of Salvation for all the world, Christ Jesus. God sent Jesus as the Lamb of God who would be the sacrifice for the sins of the world. Jesus would die on the Cross at the hands of the Jewish people, not by the wrath of Herod.

The angel warned Joseph that Herod intended to destroy…to kill…the young Child, who was two years of age or younger [as stated in verse 16 of this post]. Because the wisemen called the Christ child the “King of the Jews”, and said they came to worship Him [Matthew 2:1-6], Herod set out from that moment to destroy Jesus Christ. Herod was filled with the sin of lust for power and authority and would not tolerate an up-and-coming King to threaten his reign.

We live in a culture today where the governing authorities do not tolerate sharing their power with anyone. They have their power through the beast that governs by giving them what to say, do, think, and feel. The beast they serve despise Jesus Christ who came to destroy the power of darkness that this present word system is governed by. The government of the beast intends to destroy Christianity and to silence the message of the Cross. The global culture dominates every city around the world, and they welcome the image of the beast that is given breath/life to speak by speaking and living through them. We are warned that they seek to destroy the Gospel of Christ and all of Christianity. By what the beast gives people to say and do they are conformed to the mark, name, number of the beast.

We are told to flee from the culture of this world, to come apart from them, “Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues. For her sins have reached to heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities.” Revelations 18:4-5 “Come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you. I will be a Father to you, and you will be My sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.” 2 Corinthians 6:17-18 [quoted from Isaiah 52:11-12]

“When he arose, he took the young Child and His mother by night and departed for Egypt, 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.” Matthew 2:14-15

Joseph woke up from his dream, believing every word that the ministering angel spoke to him. He immediately took the Christ child, and Mary his wife, and departed for Egypt. God does not desire for any one of us to perish… He came to save not to destroy. Whenever there is danger, He wants to guide us away from risky circumstances and not to engage in any unnecessary risks. Our Lord Jesus suffered for us when he was crucified on the Cross so that we may pass from death into life, “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and will not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.” John 5:24

We live in a world today that lives by the power of darkness and seeks to bring harm to decent individuals who live in the presence of the Holy Spirit. Our Lord Jesus says this to the culture of the beast, “…this is your hour, and the power of darkness.” Luke 22:53 The warnings in the Bible are to make us aware of the dangers that surround us so that we can be better prepared to face the pitfalls, “Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves…Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.” Matthew 10:16, 1 Peter 5:8 Satan disguises himself as an angel of light in the process of devouring, “For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works.” 2 Corinthians 11:14-15

Hosea is the prophet that said, “And out of Egypt I called My son.” Hosea 11:1 The birth of Jesus Christ is a bundle full of fulfilled prophecy. And numerous of those prophecies are stated from Matthew 1:18-25 through Matthew chapter 2.

“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.” Matthew 2:16

Herod, in a narcissistic way, felt that he had been deceived by the righteous wisemen, but the wisemen were being obedient to the message from God given to them in a dream. What was Herod expecting from the wisemen? He expected them to hunt down the Christ child and then return to him to let him know where Jesus was. Herod lied to and manipulated the wisemen by telling them he wanted to worship the infant Jesus as well…Herod wanted to kill Him not worship Him. The wisemen never returned. They didn’t return to Herod because they were warned in a dream not to, as described in the verses directly below.

“Then Herod, when he had secretly called the wise men, determined from them what time the star appeared. And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, ‘Go and search carefully for the young Child, and when you have found Him, bring back word to me, that I may come and worship Him also.’” Matthew 2:7-8 “Then, being divinely warned in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed for their own country another way.” Matthew 2:12

We live in a world where there is no reverence, respect, or sacredness for we who live by faith in Jesus Christ. Those of this world will use flatteries, smooth words, and present a form of Godliness to solicit actions from us that grieve the Holy Spirit. “For those who are such do not serve our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly, and by smooth words and flattering speech deceive the hearts of the unsuspecting…having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!” Romans 16:18, 2 Timothy 3:5 God does not expect us to perform for them what their sin-filled, deceitful, and treacherous heart tries to obligate us to do. When we change our mind, which happens when the Holy Spirit enlightens us, they will accuse us of being deceitful for not obliging their schemes against God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit.

“Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ….knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.” – Galatians 1:10, Romans 6:6

Herod could not lay his murderous hand on the Christ child, so he decided to put to death all the male children who could have possibly been the coming King. That included every child infant that was two years or younger. That was Satan’s plan then, to destroy the Son of God and prevent his defeat when Jesus Christ would go to the Cross to bring victory over sin and death. Our sins are forgiven by what He did on the Cross. God resurrected Jesus from the grave after three days and because He lives, we will live eternally with Him. Satan couldn’t defeat our Lord Jesus then so today he comes against every born-again believer who worships Jesus as King, “And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.” Revelations 12:17 Click for post on Revelations 12 on the extinction of Christian births, and Mary, the mother of Jesus.

“Then was fulfilled what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying: ‘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.'” Matthew 2:17-18

What Herod did by slaughtering the newborns is the fulfillment of the prophecy of Jeremiah 31:15.

“Most assuredly, I say to you that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; and you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will be turned into joy.” John 16:20

I prefer to mourn with Christ Jesus than to rejoice with those without Him. “The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth…Better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting…” Ecclesiastes 7:4, 2

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“….to you who do not hold to her teaching and have not learned Satan’s so-called deep secrets,
‘I will not impose any other burden on you, except to hold on to what you have until I come.
I am coming soon. 
Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown.’”
Revelation 2:24-25, 3:1